Justin Tipuric
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| Birth name | Justin Tipuric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 6 August 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Alltwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 102 kg (16 st 1 lb; 225 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Cwmtawe Community School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Justin Tipuric (/ˈtɪpərɪk/ TIP-ə-rik; born 6 August 1989) is a former Welsh international rugby union player who played for Wales as an openside flanker.
Early life
[edit]Although Tipuric grew up in Trebanos, he was born in the village of Alltwen and is of Croatian descent.[2] Tipuric's father was a keen rugby player and captain of Trebanos RFC. Justin and his younger brothers all played for this club and, on his mother's insistence, Tipuric was required to wear a Scrum cap from a young age. As such, he has worn a distinctive blue cap (the traditional Trebanos colours) throughout his career.[3][4]
Club career
[edit]Tipuric plays for the Ospreys Welsh regional team, having previously played for Aberavon RFC. His Ospreys debut came as a replacement in an LV= Cup home defeat to Northampton Saints on 5 November 2009, and he has now played more than 170 times for his home region, including starting in the 2012 Magners League title win over Leinster in Dublin in May, 2012. He was made Ospreys captain for the 2018/19 season.
International career
[edit]In June 2011 he was named in the Wales national rugby union team 45-man training squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup,[5] but was ultimately left out of the final squad.[6] He made his Wales international debut on 20 August 2011 versus Argentina as a second-half replacement. He was also included in the Wales Rugby Sevens in 10/11.
After his efforts for the Welsh side in the 2013 Six Nations Championship, he was selected by Warren Gatland for the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia.
In August 2015 Tipuric named to the Welsh national rugby union team 47-man training squad for 2015 Rugby World Cup, and started in the home & away warm-up fixtures against Ireland, scoring tries in both fixtures (the first was nominated for World Rugby Try of the Year[7]) and being named man of the match in the second game. Tipuric was named to the final 31-man squad, and despite his fantastic form entering the tournament, he was dropped from the starting XV in favour of returning captain Sam Warburton. He did however feature in all 5 of Wales' games scoring a try in the win 54–9 against Uruguay, his third successive international with a try.
After being named in the squad for the 2016 Six Nations Championship, Tipuric went on to feature in all 5 games, starting alongside longtime rival Sam Warburton against Ireland & Scotland. In the final game against Italy, Tipuric sustained a heavy concussion during a line out which resulted in Tipuric requiring a three-month break from the sport to recover, ruling him out of the summer tour to New Zealand.[8] Following his return from injury Tipuric was included Robert Howley's squad for the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, going onto start in 3 fixtures including a man of the match try scoring performance versus South Africa.
Tipuric was named in the squad for the 2017 Six Nations Championship, and started in the first fixture versus Italy.[9]
Tipuric announced his retirement from International Rugby on 20 May 2023. He will continue to play for the Ospreys.
International tries
[edit]| Try | Opponent | Location | Venue | Competition | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ireland |
Cardiff, Wales | Millennium Stadium | 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches | 8 August 2015 | Loss |
| 2 | Ireland |
Dublin, Ireland | Lansdowne Road | 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches | 29 August 2015 | Win |
| 3 |  Uruguay |
Cardiff, Wales | Millennium Stadium | 2015 Rugby World Cup | 20 September 2015 | Win |
| 4 |  South Africa |
Cardiff, Wales | Millennium Stadium | 2016 Autumn Internationals | 26 November 2016 | Win |
| 5 |  Italy |
Cardiff, Wales | Millennium Stadium | 2018 Six Nations | 11 March 2018 | Win |
| 6 |  Georgia |
Toyota, Japan | Toyota Stadium | 2019 Rugby World Cup | 23 September 2019 | Win |
| 7 | Ireland |
Dublin, Ireland | Lansdowne Road | 2020 Six Nations | 8 February 2020 | Loss |
| 8 |  England
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London, England | Twickenham | 2020 Six Nations | 7 March 2020 | Loss |
| 9 | ||||||
| 10 | Italy |
Llanelli, Wales | Parc y Scarlets | Autumn Nations Cup | 5 December 2020 | Win |
| 11 |  New Zealand |
Cardiff, Wales | Millennium Stadium | 2022 Autumn Internationals | 5 November 2022 | Loss |
References
[edit]- ^ "LIONS V JAPAN UPDATE". Lions Rugby. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ Woolford, Anthony (8 February 2017). "How wrestling matches with a prisoner of war made Justin Tipuric". walesonline.
- ^ "The real Justin Tipuric and what he thought about Sam Warburton". 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Who is Justin Tipuric: Ten things you should know about the Wales flanker". 19 May 2021.
- ^ "Gavin Henson and Gareth Delve make Wales squad". BBC Sport. 4 June 2011 – via bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Rugby World Cup 2011: Sam Warburton leads Wales in New Zealand". BBC. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- ^ Bywater, Alex (28 October 2015). "Justin Tipuric nominated for World Rugby try of the year award". walesonline.
- ^ "Wales' Justin Tipuric given three-month concussion layoff". The Irish Times.
- ^ Lucas, Dan (5 February 2017). "Italy 7-33 Wales: Six Nations 2017 – as it happened". The Guardian.
External links
[edit]- Justin Tipuric at the World Rugby Men's Sevens Series
- Justin Tipuric at ESPNscrum
- Justin Tipuric at ItsRugby.co.uk
- Justin Tipuric at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
- How wrestling matches with a prisoner of war made Justin Tipuric
- Ospreys Profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 December 2010)
- Wales Profile
- Justin Tipuric nominated for World Rugby try of the year award
- Wales’ Justin Tipuric given three month concussion layoff
Squads | |||||||||||||||||
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- 1989 births
- Living people
- Aberavon RFC players
- British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales
- Ospreys (rugby union) players
- Rugby union flankers
- Rugby union players from Neath Port Talbot
- Wales international rugby union players
- Welsh people of Croatian descent
- Welsh rugby union players
- 2015 Rugby World Cup players
- 2019 Rugby World Cup players