Mark Chisholm (born 18 September 1981) is a retired Australian

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 it ...

player. Chisholm usually played as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, but could also cover blindside flanker.

Career

Chisholm represented Australia's under-19 side in 2000 as well as being named QRU Colt of the season for his club Wests Bulldogs. He also played for the under-21 side in 2001 and 2002. He spent the

2002 Super 12 season The 2002 Super 12 season was the seventh season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2002, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seas ...

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 competitions ...

as a product of the Energex Reds College. The following season he moved to the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 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 brumby, feral horses whi ...

and made his Super 12 debut for the side that season in a game against the Cats in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

as a replacement, he went on to play in six more matches that season. Chisholm was a pillar of the CA Brumbies' starting XV, having held down a run-on lock position for six years. The athletic 115-kilo second rower managed just seven matches for the CA Brumbies in the

2009 Super 14 season The 2009 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2009 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 30 May, when the Bulls won their second Super Rugby title with a decisive 61–17 victory over the Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld stad ...

before a broken wrist, suffered against the

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

, prematurely ended the veteran lock's season. While the setback saw him overlooked 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 so ...

domestic Tests, Chisholm returned to the international fold during the

2009 Tri Nations Series The 2009 Tri Nations Series was the fourteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies, and Springboks. The Sprin ...

, again establishing himself in the Australian starting XV. His role as an incumbent lock for the Wallabies also booked him a place on the Wallabies' Grand Slam northern hemisphere tour – the fifth Spring Tour of his career. His strong lineout winning ability, aggressive physicality, barnstorming running and frequent try-scoring has formed the cornerstone of his success throughout his career. The powerful tight forward was a consistent performer for the CA Brumbies since his boom debut season in the

2004 Super 12 season The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season ...

that featured six tries in a Super 12 championship-winning year. In addition to his Super 12 title, Chisholm was named the CA Brumbies' 'Best Forward' and runner-up to George Smith in the Brett Robinson Award in 2007, and is currently the club's second most-capped lock behind David Giffin (80 caps). It was announced in May 2011 that Chisholm had signed with French club Bayonne on a 2-year deal. Chisholm has also been a key figure in Wallaby selections since making his Test debut – replacing

Nathan Sharpe Nathan Sharpe (born 26 February 1978) is a retired professional Australian rugby union player. He began his rugby career at the Queensland Reds in 1999 before joining the newly created Western Force in 2006, where he captained the club until h ...

– on the 2004 Spring Tour and passed 50 Tests in 2010. The following season he made his debut for the Wallabies in a test against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and was subsequently named in the 22 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

the following week and went on to start at lock for Australia A against the

French Barbarians The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C. From the start of the 2017–18 season, ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. In 2005 he started at lock in six of the 12 tests he played in. He also scored tries in the tests against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

and

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 ...

. He was named in the Wallabies 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. He is the 32nd Australian player to play in a half century of Tests, and just the fourth lock. He finished the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, feat ...

just 12 matches short of a century of matches in that competition. He was ruled out of competing in the 2011 Rugby World Cup due to rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in a Super Rugby match for the Brumbies in June 2011. At 6 ft 6 inches and weighing 246 lb, he is one of the largest players in current Australian rugby. He was also described by body building flanker

David Pocock David Willmer Pocock (born 23 April 1988) is an Australian politician and former professional rugby union player. Raised in Gweru, Zimbabwe, Pocock moved to Australia as a teenager and played for the Australia national rugby team. He played p ...

as the wallaby with the largest biceps. On 5 August 2015, it was announced that Chisholm had joined Irish

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side Munster on a two-year contract. Chisholm made his Munster debut on 13 September 2015, starting against Ospreys in the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. it ...

. He made his European Rugby Champions Cup debut on 14 November 2015, starting the opening 2015–16 pool game against

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

. On 27 February 2017, it was announced that, following an extended break from rugby due to concussion, Chisholm had returned to full training with Munster. On 31 March 2017, Chisholm made his first appearance since March 2016 when he was a replacement for

Munster A Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Iris ...

in their

2016–17 British and Irish Cup The 2016–17 British and Irish Cup was the eighth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. London Welsh were the defending champions having won the 2015–16 final against ...

semi-final win against

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

. On 19 May 2017, it was announced that Chisholm would be retiring from rugby union upon the conclusion of the 2016–17 season.

Personal life

Mark was born to parents James and Laurel Chisholm on 18 September 1981 in Gladstone,

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 , establishe ...

. In 1998 he graduated from St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. In December 2004, he married his childhood sweetheart Lauren Campbell with the blessing of her father, former Wallaby second row Bill Campbell, at All Hallows in Brisbane. They have 5 children together; Zachary, Xander, Allegra, Tobias and Olivier.

References

External links

* *
Australian rugby profile
on Rugby.com.au
Munster Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Mark 1981 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Living people Rugby union locks People from Gladstone, Queensland Aviron Bayonnais players Munster Rugby players Rugby union players from Queensland