Reece Hodge

Reece Hodge (born 26 August 1994) is an Australian professional rugby union player who plays as a back. After playing his junior career primarily at fly-half,^[4] Hodge initially played fullback and wing for the Rebels, and primarily played wing for Australia, before eventually moving to centre. In his most recent appearance for Australia (8 July 2023; South Africa) Hodge played at inside centre. Hodge currently plays for French club Bayonne in the Top 14 and the Australia national team. Hodge started his professional career in Super Rugby with the Melbourne Rebels, where he reached 100 appearances and became the team's most capped player before his departure in 2023.^[5][6]

Reece Hodge

Hodge with Australia against Italy in 2017
Date of birth	(1994-08-26) 26 August 1994 (age 30)[1]
Place of birth	North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia[1]
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Weight	94 kg (207 lb)[2]
School	Northern Beaches Secondary College, Selective Campus
University	University of Sydney[3]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre / Fullback / Wing / Fly-half Youth career –2012 Harbord Harlequins –2012 Northern Beaches Secondary College Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2011–2015 Manly 21 (169) Correct as of 15 August 2015 Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2015 North Harbour Rays 7 (19) 2016–2023 Melbourne Rebels 100 (573) 2023– Bayonne 7 (10) Correct as of 1 June 2024 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2012 Australian Schoolboys 2 (7) 2013 Australia U20 3 (14) 2016–2023 Australia 63 (168) Correct as of 8 July 2023

Career

Domestic career

Hodge began playing rugby union in his youth with the Harbord Harlequins in 2001.^[7] Playing school rugby for Northern Beaches Secondary College (Manly Selective Campus), Hodge was an injury replacement in the 2012 Australian Schoolboys tour of Fiji and New Zealand.^[8] Before Hodge was called up to represent Australia in youth rugby, he was splitting his time between rugby and cricket. Hodge said in 2016: "Around 17 I was playing at state level cricket and rugby and splitting my time between them and it was only really after school when I was picked in the ARU National Academy that I gave up playing grade cricket to focus on rugby with the goal of eventually playing professionally."^[9]

Melbourne Rebels

In August 2015, Hodge (20-years-old) signed to play for the Melbourne Rebels on a two-year deal after impressing with the Manly Marlins in the Shute Shield.^[10][11] After Hodge's first season with the Rebels, The Daily Telegraph reported that he had been offered a contract in 2014 to play for then-French and then-European champions Toulon, but he rejected the offer.^[12]

Hodge's first season with the Rebels was extraordinary, scoring nine tries in total (equal sixth),^[13] the most for the Rebels in 2016, adding eighteen points from the boot as well.^[14] Two of Hodge's tries came on debut against the Western Force, with Hodge scoring a total of twenty points.^[15][16] Starting at fullback, Hodge found himself at inside centre toward the latter half of the season,^[17] and was also deployed at outside centre as well.^[18] Upon reflection of Hodge's first season with the Rebels, CEO Baden Stephenson said: "Reece arrived at the Rebels and had an immediate impact, winning the competition’s Rookie of the Year award and becoming part of Michael Cheika's Wallabies squad," "He is a player that goes above and beyond for his club and his teammates. He is a consummate professional and is someone who embodies everything that the Melbourne Rebels stand for."^[19]

International career

Hodge was named in Michael Cheika's Wallabies camp in late May 2016, ahead of the England tour of Australia. He was an injury replacement for Mike Harris.^[20] Hodge remained in the squad for the remainder of the series. However he did not make an appearance for the Wallabies.^[21]

Hodge made his debut for Australia in the second round (27 August) of the 2016 Rugby Championship against New Zealand at Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington.^[22] Coming on as a replacement for Adam Ashley-Cooper at right-wing, Hodge kicked a penalty goal in the thirty-fourth minute. Australia lost 29–9.^[23]

Hodge represented Australia A once in 2022.

Statistics

Career statistics

As of 8 June 2024.

Team	Competition	Season	Matches	Starts	Sub.	Min.	Tries	Con.	Pen.	Drop.	Points	Yel.	Red
Melbourne Rebels	Super Rugby	2016	12	11	1	881	9	3	4	0	63	0	0
		2017	15	15	0	1,108	4	10	26	0	118	1	0
		2018	15	15	0	1,195	6	24	13	0	117	1	0
		2019	15	13	2	1,040	7	0	4	0	47	0	0
		2020	3	3	0	139	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
		2020 AU	9	8	1	656	4	0	2	0	26	0	0
		2021 AU	6	6	0	480	1	1	3	0	16	0	0
		2021 TT	—
		2022	12	12	0	857	4	12	7	0	65	2	1
		2023	13	13	0	983	2	38	11	0	119	1	0
Melbourne Rebels total			100	96	4	8,339	37	89	70	0	573	5	1
Bayonne	Top 14	2023–24	6	4	2	365	2	0	0	0	10	0	0
Total			106	100	6	8,704	39	89	70	0	583	5	1

International tries

Try	Opponent	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result		Ref.
1	Wales	Cardiff	Millennium Stadium	2016 Autumn International	5 November 2016	Win	8–32	[24]
2	Scotland	Edinburgh	Murrayfield Stadium		12 November 2016	Win	22–23	[25]
3	Italy	Brisbane	Lang Park	2017 June International	24 June 2017	Win	40–27	[26]
4	Argentina	Mendoza	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas	2017 Rugby Championship	7 October 2017	Win	20–37	[27]
5
6	New Zealand	Brisbane	Lang Park	2017 Autumn International	21 October 2017	Win	23–18	[28]
7	New Zealand	Auckland	Eden Park	2018 Rugby Championship	25 August 2018	Loss	40–12	[29]
8	South Africa	Port Elizabeth	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium		29 September 2018	Loss	23–12	[30]
9	Argentina	Brisbane	Lang Park	2019 Rugby Championship	27 July 2019	Win	16–10	[31]
10	New Zealand	Perth	Perth Stadium		10 August 2019	Win	47–26	[32]
11
12	Fiji	Sapporo	Sapporo Dome	2019 Rugby World Cup	21 September 2019	Win	39–21	[33]
13	Argentina	Townsville	North Queensland Stadium	2021 Rugby Championship	25 September 2021	Win	27–8	[34]