George Smith

The remarkable GEORGE SMITH used the 2008 season as his personal stage to remind the world what a special player he is. The first ever duel recipient of the John Eales Medal, Smith also re-won the Brumbies Player’s Player award, which he has virtually made his own since his Super rugby career began in 2000. He also successfully captained the Wallabies in victories over the All Blacks in Sydney and a star-studded Barbarians outfit at Wembley, winning the man of the match award on the latter occasion. Then there was the small matter of becoming the most capped loose forward in the history of the game, which he achieved when he overtook Frenchman Olivier Magne by playing his 90th Test. The 28-year-old finished the 2008 Test season having appeared in 13 of Australia’s record 14 Test matches, which left him just four short of the magical 100-Test mark. Earlier in the year, Smith had played alongside his brother Tyrone (a centre) with the Brumbies, with the pair featuring in all 13 games as George joined George Gregan, Jeremy Paul, Stephen Larkham and Stirling Mortlock in surpassing a century of Super rugby matches for the Canberra-based franchise.

1997-1998   Smith represented Australian Schools out of Kromer High School in two consecutive years.

1999-2000   Signed by the Brumbies from the Manly colts before making his Super 12 and Test debut in the same year. Smith scored a try in the Super 12 Final against the Crusaders, and debuted for the Wallabies during the 18-13 win against France in Paris.

2001-2002   Celebrated his 21st birthday with a Man-of-the-Match performance against the British & Irish Lions in the third and deciding Test of the 2001 series. A year later, Smith won the John Eales Medal as the Wallabies Best and Fairest player.

2003-2004   A Rugby World Cup finalist with the Wallabies in 2003 and a key member of the Brumbies 2004 Super 12 Championship winning team.

2005   Played his 50th Test against France at Suncorp Stadium, finished the year as the Wallabies Number 8 and won the Brumbies Players’ Player award for the fourth time.

2006   Played in 12 of Australia’s 13 Tests and was named vice captain for the first time against Italy in Rome.

2007   Extended his leadership credentials by captaining the Brumbies on six occasions. He then became Australia’s 75th Test Captain against Canada at Rugby World Cup, and wound up featuring in all but one of Australia’s 12 Tests for the year.

2008   Surpassed a century of Super rugby matches for the Brumbies, becoming just the fourth player from the franchise to do so (he was followed later in the same season by Stirling Mortlock). Then led the Wallabies for a second time in a Test during the season’s Bledisloe Cup opener, while later also skippering a young combination to victory over a star-studded Barbarians XV at Wembley. Smith played in 13 of the Wallabies’ 14 Tests for the year, missing only the Test win in Italy.