Nicholas James Phipps (born 9 January 1989) is an 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 who played for the Australia national team and plays for Green Rockets Tokatsu in the

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

competition.

Early life

Rabodirect Rebels vs Sharks (5536608989)

Phipps was educated at The King's School and in 2009 captained

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

's premiership-winning 1st Colts team. He is currently studying a Masters of International Business at

Rugby playing career

Club level

Phipps signed to the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

in July 2010. Phipps mentors for the

2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

included former Wallaby halfback

Sam Cordingley Sam "Rat" Cordingley (born 20 March 1976 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a former Australian rugby union footballer and member of the Wallabies. Before retirement he played for the Melbourne Rebels. He was educated at the St Patrick's Marist Col ...

. Phipps said he was looking forward to learning from his fellow halfbacks, Cordingley, and Kingi, and also from Rebels centre (and former Wallaby)

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...

. In May

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Phipps combined with

Kurtley Beale Kurtley James Beale (born 6 January 1989) is an Australian professional rugby union representative player who has made over 90 national representative appearances in a ten-year playing career at the world-class level. He is of Aboriginal desce ...

in the halves (9 & 10) against the Bulls from South Africa. Beale had been moved from fullback to flyhalf following

Danny Cipriani Danny Cipriani (; born 2 November 1987) is an English professional rugby union player currently unattached. He most recently played for Premiership Rugby side Bath and previously played for Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Wasps in the Premiership ...

's unexpected departure from the Rebels. Phipps scored a try under the posts. Phipps moved back to Sydney to play for the Waratahs commencing

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. Rebels coach Damien Hill said, "Nick has played a major part in laying the foundations of this Club and it is disappointing to see him leave. He replicates our team ethos in everything he does, both on a off the rugby field." The Wallabies and Waratahs scrum half re-signed with the ARU and NSW Waratahs in January 2017 for a two-year contract extension that takes Phipps through to the end of the 2019 season. In March 2017 he brought up his 100th super rugby cap. On 1 February 2019, Phipps travel to England to join

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

in the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

ahead of the 2019–20 season.

International career

His grandfather and great uncle, both called Jim, played for the Wallabies. Following the rich family culture within rugby Phipps made his international debut playing for Australia in the 2009 IRB Sevens World Series. Phipps played in the Australian Sevens at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

, in Delhi. He scored a try and kicked eight conversions in his Games' debut. Australia went on to win Silver, losing the final to New Zealand. In late 2010 Phipps toured with 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 ...

, and was named on the bench against 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 August 2011 Phipps became one of three halfbacks selected for the Wallabies in the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. Phipps played 26 minutes for the Wallabies against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He was one of three Rebels to play in the tournament, the others being new signings James O'Connor and

. He has continued his international career playing and appearing in the bench frequently since his debut in the green and gold. After almost two years since Phipps started for the Wallabies on home soil, he was chosen for his 29th start in a Wallabies jersey in the third deciding test against Ireland. As at 30 June 2018 Phipps has played in 64 Tests for the Wallabies since debuting at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

Awards

*In 2016 he was named the Celebrity Men's Health Man of the Year *In 2017 he was named Sydney University Male Blue of the Year

Personal life

Phipps married Ebony in 2018 and welcomed son Huxley in early 2019.

References

External links

Waratahs Profile

Wallabies Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Nick 1989 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australia international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players New South Wales Waratahs players Melbourne Rebels players Rugby union scrum-halves Living people Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England London Irish players Rugby union players from Sydney Green Rockets Tokatsu players Sydney (NRC team) players Greater Sydney Rams players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games