Geoffrey Arnold Shaw (born 27 December 1948) is an Australian former national representative

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 ...

player who played for and captained 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 so ...

. He made state representative appearances for both

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

over an eleven-year period from 1969.

Rugby career

From the Illawarra region as a nineteen-year-old Shaw first represented for New South Wales Country against

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 ...

in 1968. The following year he debuted 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 ...

in a Test match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. In that same year 1969, Shaw was selected to tour with the Wallabies on the

1969 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa The 1969 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa was a series played by the Australia national rugby union team between June and September 1969. The "Wallabies " lost the series with Springboks by four tests to nil. The Matches (not comp ...

. Shaw was one of the new boys in the squad and at 20 years old, the youngest. He played in sixteen of the twenty-six matches including one Test match. In 1970

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

toured Australia and Shaw went up against them for

, New South Wales Country and the

in one Test for a 23–3 victory. In 1971 Shaw played against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

for New South Wales and against the visiting

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

on the infamous tour which the subject of widespread anti-apartheid demonstrations. Shaw captained New South Wales Country against them, and was selected in the New South Wales side and the Australian side for all three Test matches. Shaw made the ten match

1971 Australia rugby union tour of France The 1971 Australia rugby union tour of France was a series of eight matches played by the Australia national rugby union team (the "Wallabies") in France in November 1971. The Wallabies drew the series, winning the first test of the two again ...

and played in both Tests and four tour matches. Shaw married in 1972 and took a long sabbatical with his wife to South Africa, the British Isles and Europe. He made the Eastern Currie Cup team and the Junior Springboks. Shaw played for London Scottish and picked up matches in France and Italy. On his return to Australian in 1973 he was selected for the nine-match 1973 Australia rugby union tour of Europe. He played in eight of the nine matches, including both Tests. In 1974 he matched up against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

five time when they visited Australia, for New South Wales Country, New South Wales and in all three Test matches. In 1975 when Japan visited Shaw played in both Tests and in the 2nd Test match with John Hipwell out, Shaw was first honoured the captaincy of the national side. He led them to a 50–25 victory in Brisbane. On the 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland John Hipwell was the squad captain. Hipwell would captain the team in two Tests (Scotland and Wales) and in nine mid-week matches. An injury he suffered in the North-Eastern Counties game resulted in serious damage to the cruciate ligaments in his leg, caused him to be replaced in the Wales Test and ended his playing involvement on tour. Geoff Shaw took over the captaincy from Hipwell and led the side in six mid-week matches as well as the England, Ireland and USA Tests. When Fiji arrived in 1976, Shaw captained the Wallabies three times securing three victories. This led to his selection as touring captain to France and Italy on the

1976 Australia rugby union tour of Europe The 1976 Australia rugby union tour of Europe was a series of ten matches played by the Australia national rugby union team (the Wallabies) in France and Italy in October and November 1976. The Wallabies won four and lost six of their matches; t ...

. France won both Tests. Following the tour Shaw relocated from New South Wales to Queensland and he eventually made forty-seven representative appearances for the state. He made tours with the

team to New Zealand in 1977; Japan, British Columbia & the US in 1978 and to The UK and Europe in 1980. At home he figured in representative appearances for Queensland against the New Zealand Maori, Ireland and the

. Howell quotes from Bret Harris' book ''Marauding Maroons'' when describing this twilight period of Shaw's career: In 1979 Shaw played his final Test for the

against the All Blacks in Sydney - a notable match which the Wallabies won 12-6. In total Shaw notched up sixty-eight matches for Australia, including twenty-seven Tests. He captained Australia on nine occasions as well as in a further twelve non-Test touring matches.Howell pp198-201

International career

*International Debut: Saturday, 21/06/1969 v Wales (Sydney) lost 16-19 - (Aged: 20) *Final Appearance: 28/07/1979 v New Zealand (Sydney) won 16-6 (Aged: 30) *Wallaby Number: 526 *27 Australian Caps: 1968-82 Played: 27, Won: 12, Drew: 1, Lost: 14. Test Points: 8. Tries: 27

Accolades

He was honoured as an ARU Classic Wallaby Statesman in 2011. He was the 25th inductee to the Wallaby Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2012.

References

Published sources

* Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ

External links

Shaw's career at Scrum.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Geoff 1948 births Australian rugby union captains Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Rugby union centres Living people Rugby union players from New South Wales