Owen George Stephens (born 9 January 1947), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Noddy", is a New Zealand 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 it ...

and 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He has the distinction of being one of only three players to have played international rugby union for both

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 Australia.

Early life and family

Stephens was born in

Paeroa Paeroa is a town in the Hauraki District of the Waikato Region in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, it is close to the junction of the Waihou River and Ohinemuri River, and is approximately 20 k ...

in 1947 and educated at

Tauranga Boys' College , motto_translation = I take up the work and I carry it through , coordinates = , type = State Secondary school , established = 1958 , MOE = 121 , principal = Andrew Turner , decile = 6N , years = 9 – 13 , upp ...

. He is the son of Mortimer Stephens, a rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, St. Helens ( Heritage № 429),

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

and

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

( Heritage №).

Rugby union

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, Stephens played for

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

at a provincial level in New Zealand, and for the Athletic Rugby Club in Wellington. He won a single test cap for New Zealand, playing in the All Blacks' 19–12 victory over France at Eden Park,

on 10 August 1968. He left New Zealand in 1970 and switched codes to rugby league, but was not successful. He was reinstated back into rugby union while in Australia and played at club level for St. George, and represented

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 ...

. He won five caps for Australia, playing against Tonga and Wales in 1973 and against New Zealand in 1974. Replacing Jeff McLean on the left wing, he was brought in for the second test against the All Blacks, on 1 June 1974 at Ballymore Oval, Brisbane. The match was drawn 16-all. He also played in the third on 8 June at the Sydney Cricket Ground which New Zealand won by 16 points to 6. He was only the second New Zealand international to subsequently represent another country against New Zealand.

Rugby league

Owen Stephens then changed codes again to play club level rugby league. In his career he played for

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

(trial),

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

( Heritage № 339) (two spells), and

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

( Heritage № 815), as a , i.e. number 2 or 5.

Other dual internationals

Only three players have played rugby union at

test match 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) ...

level for both New Zealand and Australia, the others being: * Ted Jessep who played for New Zealand 1931-32 and for Australia in 1934. * Des Connor who played for Australia 1958-59 and New Zealand 1961-64. He also coached Australia from 1968-197

Bill Hardcastle William Robert Hardcastle (30 August 1874 – 11 July 1944) born in Wellington, New Zealand was a pioneer New Zealand and Australian rugby union player and an Australian rugby league footballer. He represented both countries in union and Austra ...

also played for New Zealand (1897) and Australia in both rugby union (1899-1903) and rugby league (1910-14) but did not play a test match for New Zealand.https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/kiwi-sports-stars-who-have-done-the-unthinkable-dual-national-all-blacks/67LODLGVNTEHMIG6I4W3ED7FUQ/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Owen 1947 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Bay of Plenty rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Parramatta Eels players People educated at Tauranga Boys' College People from Paeroa Rugby league players from Waikato Rugby league wingers Rugby union wings Rugby union players from Waikato Wakefield Trinity players Wellington rugby union players