Duncan Hall (born 16 March 1956) is an Australian former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer who played for the Australian national rugby team, earning fifteen caps for the Wallabies. His primary positions were Number 8 and 2nd Row. His post rugby resume includes an impressive list of coaching positions ranging from

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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

to international teams. Hall's father, Duncan Hall Sr., was a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and is considered one of the greatest players of the 20th Century.

Playing career

Hall was a standout athlete at

St Joseph's College, Nudgee , motto_translation = A Sign of Faith , location = Boondall, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , other_name = St. Joseph's Nudgee College , former_name ...

and made his senior rugby debut with the

University of Queensland Rugby Club The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. They were formed in 1911, as rugby was adopte ...

in 1975, at the age of 19. Between 1975 and 1983, Hall would play in 75 games for Queensland. In 1979, Hall's reputation playing for Queensland earned him a reserve spot on the Wallabies for Test matches against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and later a spot on the Wallaby team to tour

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He made his international debut for Australia as the starting Number 8 in a 22–9 win over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

on 24 May 1980. In 1982, Hall was named vice captain of the Wallaby squad to tour New Zealand and would go on to captain Australia twice more. Between 1979 and 1983, Hall would play in a total of 39 matches for Australia, including 15 Test matches, and six

Bledisloe Cup The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...

s. His final Test match was Australia's 29–7 win over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 22 October 1983. Hall opted to remain in Italy after being dropped from the roster that would play

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. After a brief time playing club rugby there, Hall returned to Australia to pursue a career in coaching.

Coaching career

Hall's coaching career began with the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team 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 club competition ...

before moving to the UK to take a position with the

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in 1996 as an assistant/forwards coach. After one season with the Tigers, Hall worked his way up the ladder and became the head coach at the

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

. In February 2000, Hall was named the head coach of the

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

team, taking over for Jack Clark who stepped down after the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Hall left the Eagles with a record of 3 wins and 9 losses. He returned home to Australia and became an assistant coach with the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state ...

until 2002. In 2009, took a forwards coaching position with the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

prior to the start of the Division 3

Asian Five Nations The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...

tournament in the Philippines. Hall continued on as head coach for the Rhinos in 2010 and 2011. Hall took a position as head coach for the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

in January 2012, taking over for Bruce Birtwistle. Three months later the UAE just edged out Katzakatan at the

2012 Asian Five Nations ''For the divisional competitions, see: 2012 Asian Five Nations division tournaments'' The 2012 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2012 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the HSBC, was the 5th series of the Asian Five Nation ...

to avoid relegation. Hall's plans for the growth of the sport within the UAE, due in part to a program targeting national schools and the creation of an all-Emirati Shaheen development side which saw success at the Emirates International Sevens. However, after successes at the national level earlier in his tenure, the Falcons were relegated from the top tier following a 24–8 loss to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in the 2013 A5N tournament. Following that defeat, Hall announced his resignation after only 17 months at the helm, citing a desire to return to Australia to reunite with family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Duncan Jr. Living people 1956 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union coaches United States national rugby union team coaches Leicester Tigers coaches Rugby union players from Brisbane Rugby union number eights