Stephen Moore

Born in the Middle East, but of Irish descent, STEPHEN MOORE has used the last two seasons to establish himself as Australia’s first choice hooker. Although he first served at Test level in 2005, it was not until last year that the Queensland rake finally cemented his place in the run on XV, starting in all but one of Australia’s matches at the Rugby World Cup. 2008 provided further consolidation of that ranking. Moore was one of five forwards who featured in all nine of the Wallabies’ domestic Tests, starting in eight of them. He then started in every Test on the Spring Tour, winning the man of the match award during the Wallabies win at Twickenham, and scoring just his second Test try a week later in France. A Super rugby representative since 2003, Moore ended 2008 three shy of 50 caps for Queensland, but has switched to the Canberra-based Brumbies for 2009. The affable front rower is a passionate fan of Liverpool Football Club and dreams of one day watching his beloved Reds in action live at Anfield.

2003   First appeared in Super rugby for the Reds against the Bulls in Pretoria. It was the only match of his debut season.

2004   Represented the Australian Under 21s for the second consecutive year before winning a place in the Australia A squad for the Spring Tour clash with the French Barbarians.

2005   Made his Test debut as a replacement against Samoa in the first Test of the year. Moore was then utilised as back up for Jeremy Paul in the following five Tests until Brendan Cannon returned from injury. Recalled for the Spring Tour squad after Adam Freier injured his groin on arrival in France, Moore played against the French Barbarians before winning a place in the Wallaby 22 for the opening Test against France in Marseille.

2006   Finished the Super 14 on the reserves bench behind Sean Hardman before returning to form during the APC (Australian Provincial Championship), helping the Reds to the final and then won selection in the 37-man Spring Tour squad. He capped off the year by making his run on debut for the Wallabies against Scotland at Murrayfield after adding two further Test caps on the tour.

2007   First choice hooker for Wallabies in domestic Test season, and held the role for the Rugby World Cup in France playing in 10 of the 12 Tests.

2008   Consolidated his position as Australia’s first choice hooker, figuring alongside flyhalf Matt Giteau as the only players to appear in all of the Wallabies’ record 14 Tests.