Scott Higginbotham (born 5 September 1986) 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 its m ...

player. Capped 32 times for Australia's national team, 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 ...

, Higginbotham's usual positions are blindside flanker and number eight. Higginbotham currently holds the record for highest try-scoring forward in

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 ...

history.

Early life

Higginbotham was educated at

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 , ...

, on the Gold Coast, Queensland. His mother was born in Fiji and is part- Fijian, which made him eligible to play internationally for Fiji, something which Higginbotham contemplated before being accepted into the Wallabies.

Career

In 2007–2008, Higginbotham played international rugby sevens for the Australian national rugby sevens team. In 2007, Higginbotham was 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 ...

Academy Player of the Year, and made his Super 14 debut with the Reds the following year against the Bulls. Higginbotham was an integral member of the Reds team that won the Super Rugby championship in 2011. In August 2010, Higginbotham was named as a reserve 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 ...

to play against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in Pretoria. Higginbotham made his international test debut for the Wallabies against France on 27 November 2010 at the State de France. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, Higginbotham commenced a two-year contract for 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 ...

. Higginbotham was expected to bring size and versatility to the Rebels loose-forwards. Rebels coach Damien Hill said that " n Higginbothamyou've got one of the best ball-running, lineout jumping options in Australian rugby." Hill praised Higginbotham for his "aggression and intent at contact". Throughout 2013, Higginbotham acted as fill-in captain for the injured Rebels' skipper Gareth Delve, and in 2014 Higginbotham was officially announced as the captain for the Rebels, a position he held for the remainder of his tenure with the club. In his final Super Rugby campaign at the Rebels, Higginbotham surpassed

Owen Finegan Owen Finegan (born 22 April 1972, in Sydney) is an Australian former rugby union player who played as a flanker or lock, for the Australian national team. Finegan is currently the CEO of The Kids' Cancer Project Australia. He was a key perfor ...

as the leading try-scoring forward in Super Rugby history, and was awarded the 2015 Growden Medal Award for being the most consistent player among the Australian provinces. In 2015, Higginbotham left the Melbourne Rebels after signing a two-year contract with the

NEC Green Rockets NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu (formerly NEC Green Rockets) is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. The team's captain iRyota Asano The previous captain was Takuro Miuchi, who was also the captain of the Japan national rugby unio ...

, based in Abiko, Chiba, Japan. Higginbotham signed a three-year contract in 2016 to return to the Queensland Reds for the 2017 Super Rugby season. On 1 February 2018 Scott Higginbotham was named captain of the Queensland-based side. On 1 June 2019 Scott Higginbotham made his 100th appearance for the

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 , established_ ...

based side. On 17 February 2019, Higginbotham left Australia to join French side

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

competition ahead of the 2019–20 season. Higginbotham retired in September 2021.

Super Rugby statistics

References

External links

Melbourne Rebels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higginbotham, Scott 1986 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australian expatriate rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Australian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Australian rugby union players Brisbane City (rugby union) players Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Green Rockets Tokatsu players Melbourne Rebels players People educated at the Southport School Queensland Reds players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Perth, Western Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia Union Bordeaux Bègles players Australian expatriate sportspeople in France