Sam Greene (born 16 August 1994) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

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. He is a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

for Toyota Jido Shokki in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

. He previously played for the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

and for Queensland Country in Australia's

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

Early life and career

Sam Greene was born in Brisbane. He attended

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in ...

until 2009 before moving to the rival

Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...

in 2010. Greene was a talented athlete in the pool and on the track, breaking school records in each,2013 TM Records
bgsswimming.com.au but shone on the cricket and rugby fields. He represented the BGS First XI and First XV for each of his three years at the school, winning Sportsman of the Year in both 2011 and 2012. Greene played understudy to Australian Schoolboys flyhalf Grant Davies in 2010 and 2011, representing the Queensland Schoolboys in 2011 as a fullback. It was not until 2012 that Greene received the opportunity to take the

rein Reins are used to direct a horse (or other animal) when riding or driving. They are attached to a bridle's bit or noseband and are made of leather, nylon, or other materials. Reins are used to give subtle commands or cues—also known as r ...

s of the First XV, going head to head with star flyhalves like

The Southport School The Southport School (TSS) is an independent Anglican early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in Southport, a suburb on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. Established in 1901 by the Revd Horac ...

's Mitch Third (Canberra Vikings NRC 2015), St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace's James Dalgleish (Brisbane City NRC 2015),

Brisbane Boys' College Brisbane Boys' College (BBC) is an independent, Presbyterian and Uniting Church, day and boarding school for boys, located in Toowong, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

's Josh Bowen (Brisbane Bronco's U20s 2014-) and St. Joseph's Nudgee College's Paddy James (Brisbane City NRC). Greene's precise kicking from hand and from tee helped Brisbane Grammar win seven from eight matches in the GPS Rugby season, including come-from-behind victories against BBC, Southport and Nudgee. In the final round of the 2012 season Greene helped deliver Brisbane Grammar its first outright Premiership since 1972. Greene would go on to represent the Australia A Schoolboys rugby team in 2012.

Rugby career

Following the conclusion of high school Greene starred in

Wests Rugby Wests Rugby Union Club or Wests is an Australian rugby union club, based in Toowong, Queensland, Toowong, that competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. The bulk of Wests' players are drawn from the western suburbs of Brisbane wh ...

's Premier Grade side, amassing 212 points to finish the season as Premier Rugby's leading point-scorer in 2013. He was a finalist for Premier Grade's Player of the Year Award but lost out to Wests team-mate Brett Gillespie. Greene instead won the Colt of Year Award as the best Under-19 Player in Queensland. In 2014 Greene moved to

Brothers Old Boys Brothers Rugby Club (formally Brothers Old Boys) is an Australian rugby union club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The name alludes to its beginnings as a rugby club founded by alumni of schools established by the Congregation of Christian Brothe ...

, coached by Brisbane Grammar teachers Anthony Mathison and Carl Marshall to fill the void left by capped-Queensland Reds flyhalf Dallan Murphy. His form for the Reds Under-20s and Brothers throughout the year inspired

Brisbane City (rugby team) Brisbane City is an Australian rugby union football team based in Brisbane that competed in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is one of two Queensland sides in the competition, the other being . Brisbane City is organised and manage ...

coach Nick Stiles to select him for a match at Suncorp Stadium. Greene kicked a conversion on debut for Brisbane City, inspiring FoxSports commentator Greg Martin to label him "the best goal-kicker in Australia at any level". In 2015 Greene broke Queensland Reds flyhalf

Elton Flatley Elton Flatley (born 7 May 1977, Tamworth, New South Wales) is an Australian former international rugby union footballer. He played for the Queensland Reds. Career Flatley was educated at St. Joseph's Nudgee College where he was signed into ...

's single-game point-scoring record for Brothers, scoring 33 points against GPS. A few weeks later Greene scored all 23 of Brothers' points against eventual finalists Easts. He finished the 2015 season with 216 points from 15 games, scoring 10 tries and winning the club's Best and Fairest medal in the process, but controversially failed to win the Premier Grade Player of the Year Award, losing to Bond University captain Josh Fuimaono, who had only played half the season. Greene made his Queensland Reds debut off the bench against the Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium in 2015, and signed an Elite Development Squad contract shortly afterwards. He was selected to start at flyhalf Queensland Country (NRC team) in the 2015 National Rugby Championship, reaching 50 career points in just his third start for Country. Greene went on to break the all-time Queensland Country points-scoring record held by Matt Brandon with a week remaining in the competition, finishing with 83 from seven matches. He signed one-year full contract for the 2016 season with the Queensland Reds, where he will compete with Jake McIntyre to fill the void left by Quade Cooper. Greene largely spent the season as McIntyre's understudy and would go on to sign with Toyota Shokki in the Japanese

ahead of the 2016–17 season, meanwhile Cooper signed to return from Toulon on a 3-year deal.

References

External links

It's Rugby
stats {{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Sam 1994 births Living people Australian rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Brisbane City (rugby union) players Queensland Reds players Queensland Country (NRC team) players Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players Australian expatriate rugby union players in Japan Shizuoka Blue Revs players Rugby union players from Brisbane People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School People educated at Brisbane Grammar School 21st-century Australian sportsmen