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 som ...
, 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
, fo ...
, 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 competitions ...
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 to play against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
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 fa ...
, 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 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 uni ...
, 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 prefecture ...
in the
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional sports, 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 National Rugby League (France), French National ...
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