Des Connor

Desmond Michael Connor (born 9 August 1935 in Ashgrove, Queensland^{[citation needed]}) is an Australian former rugby union player and coach. He played for both the Australia and New Zealand national teams, and later coached Australia. He is an inductee in the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.

Des Connor

Birth name	Desmond Michael Connor
Date of birth	(1935-08-09) 9 August 1935 (age 90)
Place of birth	Ashgrove, Australia
Height	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
School	Marist College Ashgrove
Occupation(s)	School teacher
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1954–1959 Queensland () 1960–1966 Auckland 69 () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1958–1959 Australia 12 (0) 1961–1964 New Zealand 12 (0)

Playing career

Australia

After taking up the game at Marist College Ashgrove, Connor honed his skills further with the Brothers club. He made his representative debut for Queensland in 1954 and made further appearances for the state over the next five years.^[1]

He was selected in Australia national squad for the Wallabies' 1957–58 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France. Connor made his Australian test debut on 4 January 1958 against Wales and played in all five internationals on the tour. Later that year he captained the Wallabies in Tests against the New Zealand Maori, and then played against the All Blacks on a tour of New Zealand.^[2]

At the start of the 1960s he left Australia to continue his teaching career in New Zealand, working at Takapuna Grammar.^[2]

New Zealand

Following his move to New Zealand he was capped 12 times by the All Blacks, with a record of 10 wins, a draw and a defeat. The defeat came in his final match in 1964, against Australia at Wellington.^[3]

Coaching

He was to return to Australian rugby as a coach firstly at Brisbane Brothers, then Queensland and Australia. He led the Wallabies in that role in their home series against New Zealand in 1968. A keen tactician and student of the game, Connor studied the rulebook and after consulting with referees, he introduced in the first Test the first short lineout used in the Southern Hemisphere.^[1]

Connor also oversaw the 1969 and 1971 tours to South Africa.^[4]