Nathan Sharpe (born 26 February 1978) is a retired professional 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 its m ...

player. He began his rugby career at 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 ...

in 1999 before joining the newly created

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

in 2006, where he captained the club until his retirement in 2012. He played 116

test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

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 ...

, including 20 as captain. His usual position was

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 ...

Early life

Sharpe was raised in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

city of

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

and his first sporting love was

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

. He started playing rugby union upon moving to the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

at age 11. At schoolboy level, he represented

The Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , ...

first XV and first VIII Rowing Team in 1994 and 1995 as well as being the schools School Captain. During 1996, Sharpe played for the under-19 Australian rugby union team. He was selected for the Australian under-21s national side for three years in a row from 1997 to 1999, captaining the team in 1999.

Rugby career

At the age of 18, Sharpe was chosen in the

senior squad for the 1996

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 ...

competition. It was the first year of professional rugby and the team included Wallabies

John Eales John Eales AM (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups. Early life Eales ...

and

Garrick Morgan Garrick Morgan (born 25 January 1970), is an Australian rugby coach and former rugby footballer, who played rugby union for the Australian team from 1992 to 1997. In 2006, he became coach of the Gold Coast Breakers. He is currently head coach ...

. He had to wait until 1998 to make his Queensland debut. Sharpe gained his first cap for

against France in Melbourne in 2002. He passed the 50-cap mark during 2006 with a remarkable sequence of Test appearances: when he was rested for the Test against Fiji in Perth in June 2007 it ended a run of 28 consecutive matches for the Wallabies since 2005. For the 2006 season the Super 12 competition was expanded to become the Super 14 with the addition of two new teams; the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, and 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), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

. Sharpe was recruited by the Force, and became their inaugural team captain. In 2007, Sharpe's outstanding work in the line-out and effective work around the field was recognised when he was awarded the John Eales Medal as Australia's Player of the Year. He earned his 100th Test cap against Wales at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where Australia finished in third place. After the following

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

season, Sharpe retired from the game. He was persuaded to stay on, however, for the Wallabies matches in the

2012 Rugby Championship The 2012 Rugby Championship was the inaugural annual rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as ''The Castle Rugby Champ ...

and the 2012 end-of-year tour. Sharpe's presence in the second row took on added importance in the absence of the injured

James Horwill James Horwill (born 29 May 1985) is an Australian former rugby union player, who has played for the Australian national side, with 61 caps to his name. He captained the Wallabies a number of times, including during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Hor ...

, and he captained the side for the remainder of the year. Sharpe won the John Eales Medal for a second time in 2012. His final match playing for Australia was a win against Wales at

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

on 1 December 2012.

Post playing

Sharpe is currently a commentator for

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

for international games involving Australia. Nathan also works for leading labour hire company, SES Labour Solutions. Nathan is married to ex-Sydney Swifts netball player, Samantha Sharpe (née Dennis).

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Nathan 1978 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport rugby union players Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Queensland Reds players Western Force players Rugby union players from Wagga Wagga Australian rugby union captains Rugby union locks Australian rugby union commentators