Stirling Austin Mortlock (born 20 May 1977) is an Australian former professional

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 has scored more than 1,000 points in

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 nearly 500 test points for the

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 ...

. Mortlock is a former Wallaby,

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

and

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

captain.

Early life

Born in Sydney, Mortlock began playing rugby with Lindfield Juniors. Mortlock was educated at The King's School in

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

Sydney. He represented Gordon Juniors at Colt level and still represents Gordon at club level today. He represented Australia at Under 19 and Under 21 level before pursuing a professional career with the Brumbies.

Professional career

Brumbies career

In 1998, Mortlock joined the ACT Brumbies. He was part of the Brumbies Super Rugby championships team in 2001. In 2004 he succeeded

George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a former rugby union player who played as scrum-half. Born in Lusaka, Zambia, Gregan represented Australia at an international level, and is Australia's second most capped player. He played S ...

as ACT Brumbies Captain and played every game that season except the final due to injury and thus was unable to lead the team to claim the

Super 12 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 ...

title that year.

Wallabies career

Then Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen plucked Mortlock out of club rugby at the young age of 20 to tour Argentina with the Wallabies in 1997. In 2000, he made his Test debut against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. 2000 was a landmark year for Mortlock – he became the fastest Australian to reach 50 and 100 Test points, he scored the most points and highest number of penalties 6by any Australian in his first five Tests and created history by becoming the first Australian to score 20 points or more in four consecutive Tests. With the Wallaby team, Mortlock was instrumental in the famous Bledisloe and Tri-Nation Series' Victories of 2000. He scored a sideline penalty goal in 2000 against South Africa in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

to win Australia's first Tri Nations crown. Mortlock won man-of-the-match and had an 80-metre intercept try at then-

Telstra Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

to help knock 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 ...

out of the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

in the semi-final. In 2006, Mortlock became the 73rd player to captain the Wallabies. In 2007, Mortlock was made co-captain with Phil Waugh. In February 2008, Mortlock announced that he hoped to continue playing with the Wallabies until at least the end of 2010. Australian Rugby Union CEO John O'Neill endorsed this decision saying that Mortlock is a "real captain courageous" and an "inspirational leader". He missed Wallabies' selection in October 2010. A press release from the Rebels said Mortlock was recuperating after surgery, and hoped to be "training in full by December."

Melbourne Rebels

The

signed Mortlock in March 2010, to a three-year deal for an undisclosed amount. Mortlock was declared the Rebels inaugural Captain on 2 February 2011, with former Wales international Gareth Delve as Vice-Captain. In June 2012, Mortlock announced he would retire as a player at the end of the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the 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 tea ...

, However, in 2013 he continued with the Rebels in a supporting role.

Records and awards

Mortlock was named Super Rugby player of the year in 2002. In 2008, Mortlock's ability to score tries and kick goals positioned him third on the all-time list of Australian Test point scorers (with 473 points). In May 2009, in the Super 14 match between the Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies Mortlock became the highest points scorer in Super Rugby history, surpassing New Zealand's

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national ...

. He finished with on 1019 Super Rugby points for the Brumbies. He is the sixth player for the Brumbies to achieve 100 caps. Mortlock was made a 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 ...

in the 2012 Australia Day Honours List.

References

External links

* Stirling Mortlock * Stirling Mortloc
Melbourne Rebels profile

photo from Getty Images * Stirling Mortloc
Brumbies profile from archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortlock, Stirling Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks 1977 births Living people Rugby union players from Sydney Australia national rugby union team captains ACT Brumbies players People educated at The King's School, Parramatta Melbourne Rebels players Members of the Order of Australia 2003 Rugby World Cup players Gordon RFC players