Simon Poidevin

Simon Poidevin OAM

Full name	Simon Paul Poidevin
Date of birth	31 October 1958
Place of birth	Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
University	University of NSW
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Flanker
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1980–91	Australia	59	(25)

Simon Paul Poidevin OAM (born 31 October 1958) is a former Australian rugby union player.

Rugby union career

Born in Goulburn, New South Wales, Poidevin played rugby at St Patrick's College (now Trinity Catholic College) in New South Wales, and made the Australian Schoolboy side. Upon finishing school he played a season with the Goulburn Rugby Union Football Club and then, in 1978, he moved to Sydney to study at the University of New South Wales, from which he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science (Hons).^[1] He made his first grade debut with the university's rugby union team in 1978, and the next year was playing for the New South Wales Waratahs.

International career

Poidevin made his Test debut for the Wallabies on 24 March 1980 in a match against Fiji, which Australia won 22-9. He played over 59 caps for the Wallabies, becoming the first Australian to play 50 Tests. He captained the team on four occasions. His final appearance with the Wallabies was against England in the Grand Final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup at Twickenham, won by Australia 12-6.^[2]

Life after rugby

After retiring from the Wallabies in 1991, Poidevin became a stockbroker, although he maintained his links to rugby by working as a television commentator for the Seven Network and Network Ten.^[3] He was Managing Director of Equity Sales at Citigroup in Australia. Simon joined Pegana Capital in March 2009 as Executive Director.^[4]

Honours

• 26 January 1988: Medal of the Order of Australia for service to rugby union football.^[5]
• 1991: Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.^[6]
• 29 September 2000: Australian Sports Medal^[7]
• 24 October 2014: Inducted into Australia Rugby's Hall of Fame.^[8]

References

1. Faculty of Science Hall of Fame, University of New South Wales.
2. Simon Poidevin, Sporting Heroes: a photographic encyclopedia of sport.
3. Seven's Broadcast Team, Seven Network, 2 October 2003.
4. Citigroup Global Directory, 30 August 2007.
5. POIDEVIN, Simon Paul, Australian Honours Database.
6. "Simon Poidevin OAM". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
7. POIDEVIN, Simon, Australian Honours Database.
8. "AUSTRALIAN RUGBY WELCOMES THREE WALLABY GREATS INTO HALL OF FAME". rugby.com.au. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.