Robbie Abel (born 4 July 1989) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

rugby union coach and former professional

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 who currently coaches forwards for the Utah Warriors in Major League Rugby. He previously played at hooker for NSW,

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 ...

and for 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 ...

in Super Rugby. The

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

, and the

Canberra Vikings The Canberra Vikings, formerly the Canberra Kookaburras, is an Australian rugby union football team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is based at Viking Park in Wanniassa, and is backed by the Tuggeranong Vikin ...

and

Perth Spirit 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 p ...

, and also played for Northland and

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 ...

in the ITM Cup.

Career

Robbie Abel was selected for the Australia 'A' Schools team in 2007, after moving to St Edmund's College, Canberra from Griffith NSW in 2006. He was a part of the

Academy from 2007 till 2010, having a stint in New Zealand with Northland rugby in 2009. Abel took a two-year hiatus from rugby from 2010 till the end of 2012 to undertake a mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Upon completion of his duties he linked up with

Northland Rugby Union The Northland Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Northland, New Zealand; Northland is a region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of Far North, Kaipara, and Whangārei. Established in 1920, they represent the ...

and the from 2012 till the end of 2013 spending 2 years playing between Canberra and Whangarei for the

Runners and the Taniwha in

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 ...

's ITM Cup. He moved back to Western Australia to become a member of the

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. F ...

playing squad ahead of the 2014 Super Rugby season. Abel didn't make any senior appearances in 2014 but turned out for

in the inaugural National Rugby Championship later that year scoring 5 tries in 9 appearances, and he was named again in the Force squad for 2015. Abel then signed a contract with the Brumbies, joining the

late in the 2015 season. In 2016 Abel made his Super Rugby debut for the Brumbies against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. Abel featured in all games for the 2017 season and all games he was available for in 2018. In 2018 Abel took a contract to play with

in the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

competition. After a successful season with

which saw the team win the 2018 Premiership, losing just one game in the regular season, Abel was named in the

team to tour USA and South America.

References

Super Rugby statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Robbie 1989 births Australian rugby union players Australian people of Māori descent Northland rugby union players Perth Spirit players Canberra Vikings players ACT Brumbies players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from New South Wales Australian Latter Day Saints Living people Māori All Blacks players Melbourne Rebels players New South Wales Waratahs players People from Orange, New South Wales