David Campese AM
David Campese
One of the True Greats
David Campese is widely regarded as one of the greatest rugby players ever. In an international career spanning 15 years, he played more Test matches for Australia and scored more tries than any other player in the history of the game.
David, first capped for Australia against New Zealand in Christchurch on August 14 1982, collected a total of 101 Tests, both as a wing-three quarter and at fullback, which placed him second on the list of the world’s most capped players behind Serge Blanco, and he still holds the world record of 64 international tries breaking the record at the 1987 World Cup semi-final against France.
David scored the first of his international tries on debut against the All Blacks and in his fourth international outing, against the United States at Sydney in 1983, he scored four tries to match the Australian international record – and for good measure, he also kicked a conversion.
He was on the winning Australian Grand Slam side that toured Great Britain in 1984 and came up with the try of the tour with his second against Scotland at Murrayfield. It was the first Australian side to defeat all four home sides of England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland on a tour.
David played for Italian club Petrarca in the northern city of Padua from 1984 to 1988 during the northern winter. He transferred to the Amatori club in Milan in 1988 and played there until 1993.
In 1986 he was a member of the side that beat the All Blacks 2-1 in New Zealand, only the second Australian team to win a Test series in New Zealand. In 1987 he joined the Sydney club Randwick from the Queanbeyan Whites.
He played in three World Cup tournaments (1987, 1991 and 1995), and was on Australia’s winning side in 1991, being named player of the tournament. He was also the leading scorer at the 1991 tournament with six tries from six games. He was also part of three winning Bledisloe Cup teams, 1986, 1992, and 1994.