IRB Hall of Fame – Induction No.64 – George Musarurwa Gregan AM (Randwick DRFC, ACT, ACT Brumbies, Toulon RC, Suntory Sungoliath RC (Japan), Australia, Barbarians) 1973-

Personal details

– Born: 19 April, 1973 in Lusaka, Zambia
– Family: The youngest son of an Australian pharmacist John Gregan and Jenny, a Zimbabwean nurse. He has an older sister Susanne (the first born) and a brother Tendai. When he was 10 months old the family moved to Canberra in Australia, where they settled in Kambah in the district of Tuggeranong. Gregan is married to Erica and they have three children Max, Charlie and Jazz. Max was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2004 and the following year Gregan set up the George Gregan Foundation to help children with the condition. 
– Education: St Edmund’s College Canberra, studied PE at University of Canberra, graduated with a BA of Second Education (PE). 
– Nickname: Webster and Guv
– Other sports: cricket (school). He represented ACT at age-group cricket (under-13, under-14, under-15, under-16 and under-17 and appeared for the Senior ACT XI as a batsman in 1992.
– Hobby - golf

Professional career

A retired professional rugby player and businessman. He runs, together with wife Erica, a coffee and catering business GG Espresso which they launched in 1997. He is also a TV commentator and consultant coach. He founded the George Gregan Foundation for children with epilepsy. He is a national patron of Brainwave, a charity for children with neurological disorders and their families. He is a brand Ambassador for Land Rover Australia.

Awards and records

– Foundation player for the Brumbies franchise since 1996
– Rugby World Cup 1999 winner in the team captained by John Eales
– Appointed to the Order of Australia (AM) for services to rugby union 
– Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2009
– At the time of his induction, held the world record for the most tests played with 139 for Australia against 15 nations and two invitational selections, the British and Irish Lions and the Pacific Islanders
 (Lions and Pacific Islanders) 
– A stand at the Canberra Stadium was named after the duo Gregan and his Australia and Brumbies half-back partner Stephen Larkham - The Gregan and Larkham Stand
– One of 11 legends inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame at the IRB World Rugby Conference and Exhibition in Dublin on 18 November, 2013

Rugby career

– He started at scrum-half, a position he played for his entire career, at St. Edmunds’ College, a Christian Brothers private school in Griffith, Canberra.
At the time cricket was his first choice sport. He was one of several Brumbies and Wallabies to graduate from the school, including Ricky Stuart, Matt Pini, Matt Giteau and Anthony Faingaa.   
– In 1996, he joined Randwick DRFC. He only played 10 games – and scored seven tries – for the club, including that year’s grand final, which the Galloping Greens won.
– He played for the ACT Under-19, Under-21 and senior team before the formation of the ACT Brumbies franchise.
– He made his ACT debut against Transvaal in 1993. 
– He played for Australia Under-19 in 1992 on their NZ tour. The tour record was: won one (v Southland, 40-0), drew one (v Canterbury 9-9) and lost one (v New Zealand Under-19 23-3). 
– Represented Australia Under-21 in 1993 when they played five matches - two on a domestic tour (25-25 v Australian Barbarians and 103-0 v NSW Suburbs, one v England Under-21 (lost 12-22) in Sydney, and two on tour to New Zealand, defeating Auckland Under-21 53-18 and New Zealand Under-21 31-8.
– He played 11 seasons for the ACT Brumbies franchise from 1996 to 2007 (from Super 12 in 1996 to Super 14 in 2007).
– The Brumbies won the Super Rugby title in 2001 and 2004.
– He played for the Australian Sevens team in Fiji and Hong Kong, where Glen Ella noticed his ability and talent, saying that he will soon play for the Wallabies. 
– That happened the following year when he made his international debut v Italy at Ballymore, in Brisbane, on 18 June, 1994, with Michael Lynagh as captain and Bob Dwyer as coach,
– Also in 1994, in his first test against New Zealand at Sydney Football Stadium, Australia won the Bledisloe Cup thanks to his try-saving tackle, which entered the folklore of the game, on Jeff Wilson who was about to score the winning try.  
– Made his Rugby World Cup debut against South Africa on 25 May, 1995 in what was the seventh match and the first defeat of his career.
– With Gregan at scrum-half, Australia defeated Canada and Romania in their pool matches, but were knocked out by England in the quarter-finals on 11 June, 1995. 
– The RWC 1995 quarter-final match against England was the 10th and last match of his amateur career as the game was declared open and the following year Gregan became a member of the first ever professional Wallaby team. 
– His professional test career started with a high scoring 56-25 win in the first test against the visiting Welsh at Ballymore in June 1996.
– He made his Tri-Nations debut against South Africa in Sydney on 13 July, 1996, with the Wallabies winning 21-16. John Eales was captain and Rod Macqueen head coach, but it was their only win of that tournament.
– In 1997 he became the Wallabies vice-captain.
– He played 12 tests in 1997, with Australia winning the test series against the visiting French 2-0, finishing third in the Tri-Nations (one win from four matches), sharing the series (1-1) with Argentina, losing to New Zealand in a one-off test in Christchurch, beating England 25-3 at home and drawing 15-15 at Twickenham before finishing the season with a comfortable 37-8 win over Scotland at Murrayfield. 
– In 1998, he played in 13 of Australia's 14 tests, winning 11 (two defeats at the hands of South Africa) and the Bledisloe Cup undefeated. This was a particularly successful year, positioning Australia as one of the leading contenders for RWC 1999.
– Started his second RWC campaign with a satisfying 57-9 win against Romania in Belfast with John Eales as captain and Rod Macqueen as coach.
– He played in the subsequent RWC match against Ireland and, having missed the USA match, he played in the quarter-final against Wales and the semi-final thriller with South Africa to reach the final against France, which Australia won 35-12 to take the Webb Ellis Cup home for the second time. 
– In September 2001 he was appointed Wallabies captain.
– Captained Australia in 10 tests in 2002, winning six and losing four. 
– With Eddie Jones as coach, Gregan captained Australia in a record 13 matches in 2003, including the RWC final which Australia lost 20-17 to England after extra-time. 
– In 2004 Australia played 11 matches with Gregan as captain, winning eight and losing three. Gregan won his 100th cap against South Africa at Subiaco Oval in Perth.
– Though injured at the beginning of 2005 while playing for the Brumbies in Super 12, he returned to international action against Italy in June, the first of his 12 tests that year. 
– In November 2005 he broke Jason Leonard’s record number of appearances for his country with his 115th cap - Leonard had also played five Lions tests - against France in Marseille.
– In 2006 with John Connolly as the new Australia coach, he played only nine tests, taking a break during the November tour to the northern hemisphere. That year he equalled John Eales' record of 55 appearances as captain against New Zealand in Brisbane and then became the most capped Australian captain of all-time in the next match against South Africa.
– Together with his long-term half-back partner Stephen Larkham he played his last home game for the Brumbies, against the Crusaders, at the end of April 2007. 
– He made 12 appearances for Australia in 2007, the last five in the Rugby World Cup in France. Although he did not start the year as Wallaby skipper - he was one of the vice-captains for the tournament - he captained Australia against Fiji to equal Will Carling’s captaincy record of 59 tests.
– He ended his international career against England - his 16th encounter against the old foe - on 6 October, 2007 in the RWC quarter-final. 
– After RWC 2007, he joined Toulon for a season, the French club who were at the time in the second professional division.
– In 2008 he joined the Suntory Sungoliath club in Japan on a three-year contract. In his first season, Suntory lost the All-Japan Rugby final 24-18 to Sanyo Wild Knights, but won the title in his last year (2011) by defeating the same side 37-20 in the final.

Tours and tournaments                                      

– RWC 1995
– 1996 Tri-Nations 
– 1997 Tri-Nations
– 1997 Australia tour of Argentina, Ireland, England and France
– 1998 Tri-Nations
– 1998 RWC 1999 qualifying tournament (Pacific)
– 1998 Tour of England and France
– 1999 Tri-Nations
– RWC 1999
– 2000 Tri-Nations
– 2000 Tour of Japan, France, Scotland and England
– 2001 Tri-Nations
– 2001 Tour of Spain, England, France and Wales
– 2002 Tri-Nations
– 2002 Tour of Argentina, Ireland, England and France
– 2003 Tri-Nations
– RWC 2003
– 2004 Tri-Nations
– 2004 Tour of the British Isles and France
– 2005 Tri-Nations
– 2005 Tour of Japan
– 2005 Tour of France, England, Ireland and Wales
– 2006 Tri-Nations
– 2007 Tri-Nations
– RWC 2007

Coaching career

– Appointed coaching consultant by Jake White with a special role for the Brumbies scrum-halves Nic White and Ian Prior in 2011-12.

Career records and highlights

– With 136 Brumbies caps he has recorded the second most Super Rugby appearances after George Smith (142).
– At the time of his induction he was the most capped Brumbies captain with 49 appearances, followed by Stirling Mortlock with 44. 
– He recorded the most consecutive Super Rugby appearances (80) for the Brumbies (1998-2005), followed by Bill Young with 75 (1999-2005).
– During his time with the Brumbies, they won the Super Rugby title in 2001, defeating the Sharks in the final, and 2004 when they defeated the Crusaders. They finished runners up in 1997 (lost to the Blues), 2000 and 2002 (lost to the Crusaders both times).
– Gregan and Stephen Larkham set a new world record for a half-back partnership with 79 test appearances together. They also made most final appearances (five) for the Brumbies.
– He made most final appearances as Brumbies captain (three).
– Of his 139 tests for Australia they won 93, drew two and lost 44, a commendable 67.6 per cent winning rate
– Of the 139 matches he played for the Wallabies, 75 were at home (won 63), 54 abroad (won 22) and 10 on neutral territory (won eight). 
– With him at scrum-half, Australia scored 4,072 points (of which he contributed 99 through 18 tries) and conceded 2,471. 
– He started in 133 of his 139 tests.
– Twenty-six of his 27 matches against New Zealand were in the Bledisloe Cup, of which he won 11 and lost 15, a 42.3 per cent winning record
– He played 20 matches across four Rugby World Cups from 1995-2007, winning 16 and losing four for a winning rate of 80 per cent. With him as scrum-half Australia played in two finals with a 50 per cent success rate. 
– He appeared in 48 matches in the Tri-Nations with South Africa and New Zealand between 1996 and 2007, winning 20 and losing 27 with one draw for a 42.70 per cent winning rate.
– He took part in 26 tours and tournaments, of which four were Rugby World Cups and one a RWC qualifying tournament in 1998.
– He captained Australia a then record 59 times between 2001-2007, winning 34 and losing 25 for a winning rate of 57.62 per cent. 
– He played the most matches played against South Africa (30) followed by New Zealand (26).

What he said

In conversation with TV host Andrew Denton: “Well, I am competitive. I think most people who compete at the top end of sport are very competitive. Some show it more than others ... I show it probably when I'm on the field. Whereas some guys, it doesn't matter what they're doing, they're always super-competitive. It could be playing cards. It could be going shopping. I don't know what it is. They want to get a better t-shirt than someone else. They're super-competitive.” 

“Well, there's plenty of ‘amping’ up which goes with a collision sport. You're going to be ready for a collision. Well, maybe I wasn't ready last weekend. But I like that because, for what I do anyway, I need to get the balance right between being really, really aggressive but also just being really calm and making some good clear-headed focused calls. I find that place when I listen to jazz before a game.”

“I just feel there's a part of your life which needs to be private and there's a part which is definitely public and it's open to question and it's open to enquiry and all that type of stuff. I've been pretty strong in that all my career. It's not something that's come about in recent years. I've separated my private life and what I do as a rugby player separately, which I think's very, very important. That mightn't go down too well with some people in the media who feel that because you're in the position that you're in, every part of your life's open slather. I totally disagree with that.”

“They've (parents) been great. Growing up I never felt I was, obviously I had a different coloured skin and everything. But it was probably looking beyond that as a person and I just always felt, you know, really comfortable with really everyone I associated with. It (racism) reared its head a few times. I think you'd be wrong to say it doesn't occur. But at school, I always just got over it in terms of, well, that person's got some issues and I'm just another normal person. I like doing all the things that you like to do. We look different, but that's Australia.” 

“I think the first step any sportsman should take is to ensure that they are performing at the peak of their mental and physical capabilities. If you do that, then winning should follow. I think you just invite pressure on yourself if you get too hung up on the winning. That said, speak to any competitor, winning is rather important. It's not just us guys who like to win.”

“Any sportsman will tell you in a pressure situation you can have a poor game once in a while. But I think that is what, maybe, marks out the Australian sports team: they have a bad game and then they look not to worry about it but to come straight back. I think the one thing we all have in common is knowing the importance of performance under pressure.”

“My wife Erica and I set up the George Gregan Foundation in August 2005 after our son Max was diagnosed with epilepsy. We spent time in hospital with Max and experienced first-hand the needs of many sick children and their families. We’re very proud of the George Gregan Foundation playgrounds at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane and now at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick. The playgrounds are designed to give patients and their families somewhere to go to enjoy some time together away from the wards. Another important role of the George Gregan Foundation is to raise funds to help train medical practitioners who specialise in the treatment of children suffering from epilepsy and other neurological conditions. The George Gregan Epilepsy Fellows in Westmead and Brisbane are doing some ground-breaking work with these children.”

What they said

Greg Growden (rugby writer): “Australia’s Mighty Mouse of a half-back will always now be known as the ‘man who made the Bledisloe Cup tackle’. Gregan may have been the tinniest player on the Sydney Football Stadium last night, but was found to have the biggest of hearts, and the most devastating of impacts, when his try-saving tackle on New Zealand winger Jeff Wilson in the 76th minute ensured the Cup stayed in Australia, after two years on the other side of the Tasman.”

John Brewer (Randwick DRFC writer and historian): “A brilliant scrum-half and fine leader, he always appeared cool and deliberate in everything he did. He was a master of reversing play back to the forwards. Extremely strong, he was renowned for his cover defence and will forever be heralded for his magnificent tackle on New Zealand winger Jeff Wilson, to win the Bledisloe Cup.”

Ed Richardson (journalist, Daily Telegraph): “Gregan's longevity in the game is testament to his determination, tactical acumen and distributive ability. He made his international bow in a victory over Italy in 1994 and just a few months later he wrote himself into Wallaby folklore with a last-ditch tackle that secured the Bledisloe Cup for Australia.”

Laurie Fisher (head coach ACT Brumbies): “Attacking George seems to be an annual event and I don't think his form this year warranted the criticism he has received. I think sometimes they expect too much of him, they expect him to do it all. He is still playing very well and I would expect that to continue to the World Cup (2007).”

Greg Growden (rugby writer): “Without George Gregan’s flying tackle which elped to knock the ball out of Wilson’s hands as he crossed the line, New Zealand would have won. After Gregan’s tackle the Wallabies were able to enjoy one of the most successful years on record, which has ended with an unbeaten domestic season, overhauling Ireland, Italy, Western Samoa and New Zealand in six internationals.” 

Andrew Logan (rugby writer and commentator): “Unfortunately for Gregan, his strongest and weakest points polarised further behind a beaten pack. His pass looked worse, but his ability to lead became crucial. And so the quandary manifests. Are we better off playing a great leader with a slow pass, or a capable player with a fast one? There are arguments both ways. Alan Jones once consoled would-be Wallaby half Brian Smith with this gem about Nick Farr-Jones, saying that Farr-Jones was 'not there because he is a better player than you – but because the others play better when he is there.' The same could be said of Gregan – that the others play better when he is there.”

Peter FitzSimons (former Wallaby, sports commentator and author): “Eddie Jones is one of the most intense characters I’ve ever met, and I wonder if part of the empathy between Jones and George Gregan isn’t because they have the same level of intensity. In my days with the Wallabies, in the (Nick) Farr-Jones and Bob Dwyer era, Farr-Jones was a laugh a minute, first man in the casino, last man out. A colourful guy. So many stories, so little time. John Eales also is more of a sober character but prone to a good belly laugh. With George Gregan the dichotomy with him is his public persona. I don’t know him well, I think few people do, but his public persona is as prickly as any rugby bloke I’ve ever come across.”