Ross Ralph Cullen (born 6 November 1937) is an Australian former international
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.
Born in New Zealand, Cullen grew up in the north island town of
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te KÅ«iti and 55 km west of TÅ ...
, then immigrated to Australia during the early 1960s, settling initially in the
NSW Riverina region.
Cullen became the Queensland hooker after relocating to Brisbane in 1965 and soon came to the attention of
Wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...
selectors, earning an invitation to the trials for the
1966–67 tour of Britain, Ireland and France. He fought off competition from NSW hooker
Dick Taylor
Richard Clifford Taylor (born 28 January 1943) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and founder of the Pretty Things. Taylor was also a founding member of the Rolling Stones, playing guitar and bass guitar, but left the band to ...
to be named in the 30-man squad, as back up for
Peter Johnson.
After making his Wallabies debut in a loss to North-East Counties, Cullen next appeared in their match against
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
at Iffley Road, where he was involved in a controversial incident with the varsity side's Ireland international
Ollie Waldron. It was alleged that he had bitten the ear of Waldron and after an internal inquiry was sent home by team manager
Bill McLaughlin
Reginald Edward Millen "Bill" McLaughlin Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (1914–1990) was an Australian Rugby Union player and President of the Australian Rugby Union. He represented for the Australia national rugby union team, ...
, with Dick Taylor named his replacement.
Cullen captained Brisbane club
Easts in first grade.
See also
*
List of Australia national rugby union players
List of Australia national rugby union players is a list of people who have played for the Australia national rugby union team.
Note that the "position" column lists the position at which the player made his Test debut, not necessarily the posit ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Ross
1937 births
Living people
Australian rugby union players
Australia international rugby union players
Rugby union players from Manawatū-Whanganui
Rugby union hookers
Queensland rugby union team players
New Zealand emigrants to Australia
20th-century Australian sportsmen