Tai McIsaac (born 19 March 1975, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

) 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 ...

football coach, and a former professional player. He is currently the head coach of the

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 ...

team in Australia's

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

. McIsaac played as a hooker for 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. ...

and

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 ...

in the

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 ...

competition before retiring from playing in 2009.

Career

Prior to rugby, McIsaac had been a National League

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player and represented Australian water polo in the under-21 team. Although he eventually specialised as a hooker, McIsaac started out in rugby at the age of 23, playing as a prop. He began his rugby career at Bond Pirates in the

Gold Coast District Rugby Union The Gold Coast and District Rugby Union, or GCDRU, is the local Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union on Australia's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast. The GCRU runs a club rugby competition for men's teams with thr ...

, later moving on to the

Gold Coast Breakers The Bond University Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. The club is based at the Bond University campus on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast. Bond Univer ...

Queensland Premier Rugby Queensland Premier Rugby is a semi professional club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Nine clubs play in the competition, eight of which are from Brisbane with one club from the Gold Coast. The premiership has been contested ...

. McIsaac's first professional contract was with the

in the Super 12 competition. He made his Super 12 debut in 2003 in a match against New Zealand team, the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. Also that year, McIsaac toured Japan with Australia A. In 2005, he signed with the Western Force for their inaugural season in 2006. McIsaac made his debut for

the Wallabies The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2006, and went on to claim 8 Test caps in that season. After four seasons at the Force, he retired from playing rugby in 2009. McIsaac began his coaching career with

Honda Heat Mie Honda Heat is a Japanese rugby union team based in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The owner of the club is Honda Motor. (Suzuka is known for the Suzuka Circuit and the presence of car companies.) They play in the Japan Rugby League One, ...

in Japan for the 2009–10 season. McIsaac was head coach of the Toyota Industries Shuttles for several seasons until 2013–14. He then returned to Australia to take up an assistant coaching position at the

in 2015. He was also appointed head coach of the

for the 2015 season of the

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McIsaac, Tai 1975 births Australian rugby union coaches Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Living people Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Brisbane