Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones AM (born 18 April 1962) is a former Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, who played as a scrum-half. He debuted for the Australia national team during the 1984 tour of Britain and Ireland. Farr-Jones was named "Player of the Series" for the 1986 tour of New Zealand, where Australia became the sixth team to win a test series there. He was appointed captain of the Wallabies in 1988 and is best known for leading the team to victory in the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

. Farr-Jones retired from international rugby in 1992 but briefly returned in 1993 for the Bledisloe Cup and a series against South Africa. He has since appeared as a rugby commentator on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

and serves as chairman of the

New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU), formerly known as the Southern Rugby Football Union (SRFU) between 1874 and 1892, is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It ...

Early life

Farr-Jones attended Newington College from 1974 to 1979 and St Andrew's College at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. Although not selected for the First XV at Newington, he played first grade rugby for the University of Sydney. When rugby was still considered an amateur sport, he also worked as a lawyer.

Rugby

Farr-Jones was selected for the 1984 European tour, making his international debut for the Wallabies on 3 November 1984, in a 19–3 victory against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. He became a regular in the test side, scoring his first try in the final match against Scotland. He played in the 1986 Bledisloe Cup series win against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

and participated in the inaugural

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

in 1987. In 1988, he was appointed captain of the Australian team. As captain, Farr-Jones led Australia to two home test series wins against England, but the team was defeated in the 1988 Bledisloe Cup and lost the 1989 series to the British Lions. During this period, his performance was scrutinized by critics, and he faced challenges from opposing teams. In one instance, Robert Jones deliberately targeted Farr-Jones' injured foot during a match. In 1990, after Australia lost the first two matches of the Bledisloe series, there was speculation that Farr-Jones might lose the captaincy. However, the team won the final test 21–9 in Wellington. The 1991 Bledisloe series ended in a tie, and Australia entered the Rugby World Cup with momentum. Farr-Jones dealt with a knee injury during the tournament, sitting out the pool match against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and being substituted during the quarter-final. He returned for the semi-final against New Zealand and led the team to victory in the final. In 1992, Farr-Jones contributed to Australia's victories over the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup and the Springboks in Cape Town, which affirmed the team's strong standing in international rugby. He retired from the sport but returned in 1993 for the final two home tests against South Africa after Australia lost the opening match of the series. Farr-Jones earned 63 caps for Australia, including 36 as captain, and scored nine tries. He also set a world record with

Michael Lynagh Michael Patrick Thomas Lynagh, (born 25 October 1963) is an Australian former rugby union player who played 66 tests at Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half and six tests at inside centre between 1984 and 1995. Lynagh was Cap (sport), capped 72 time ...

for playing 47 tests together as a half-back combination.

Personal life

Farr-Jones identifies as a Christian and has spoken publicly about his faith. He is married and has four children. The Liberal Party of Australia reportedly considered him as a potential candidate for a byelection in the marginal Division of Wentworth.

Honours

* 1992 Australia Day Honours:

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in recognition of service to the sport of Rugby Union football. * 2001:

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

for service to Australian society through the sport of Rugby Union

Awards

* 1999: Inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepted ...

* 2008: Inducted into the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

Hall of Fame * 2011: Inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

alongside all other Rugby World Cup-winning captains and head coaches from the tournament's inception in 1987 through 2007 (minus the previously inducted

John Eales John Anthony Eales (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups. Early life E ...

)

References

External links

1991 World Cup on BBC SportSporting Heroes page 1Sporting Heroes page 2Sporting Heroes page 3Sporting Heroes page 4
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farr-Jones, Nick Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby union team captains Rugby union scrum-halves World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees People educated at Newington College Members of the Order of Australia Living people 1962 births Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Sydney 1987 Rugby World Cup players 1991 Rugby World Cup players Sydney University Football Club players New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen