John EalesAM is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.
Eales played lock for Queensland Reds and Australia. He was given the nickname "Nobody" because "Nobody's perfect". Eales' 55-cap time as captain marked an era of Australian success in world rugby. Eales played a part in Australia's victories at the Rugby World Cup, first in 1991, and later in 1999. He took over the captaincy from Rod McCall.
Statistics
Eales scored 173 points for Australia – 2 tries, 34 penalties and 31 conversions – a total which, as of April 2013, places him 12th on the all-time scoring list for Australia. He is the highest scoring forward in Test rugby history and, as of November 2015, only one of seven forwards to have surpassed 100 points in Test rugby. This is largely because of his goal kicking, which is unusual for a forward; his two tries are unremarkable. Eales captained Australia on 60 occasions, 55 times in Test matches. As of 2017, he is ranked seventh in games played as international captain. As of 2017, Eales' 86 caps make him the fourth most capped forward in Australia's Test rugby history, and joint 9th on the overall list. Eales played 20 Tests against the All Blacks, winning 11 and losing 9. Of those 20 Tests, he captained the Wallabies 11 times, winning 6 and losing 5. Eales is one of only 21 players to have represented the Queensland Reds in 100 or more state games - he represented his state in 112 games. He scored a total of 402 points in the Super 12 competition with 6 tries, 66 conversions and 80 penalties for the Queensland Reds. No forward has scored more points than him in the competition's history. He is one of a select group to have won the Rugby World Cup twice. He retired as the most-capped lock of all time, with 84 Test appearances in that position. Eales has since been surpassed in caps as a lock by several players.
Post-playing career
Business
Eales was a founder of the Mettle Group and his personal company the JohnEales5. He is also a director of Flight Centre and Palladium International, and a columnist for The Australian newspaper. He is also engaged as a consultant for Westpac.
Sport ambassador, mentor and boards
Eales acted as a "rugby ambassador" at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, which involved a number of media duties and fulfilled the role as an Athlete Liaison Officer for the Australian Olympic Committee in the Athens, Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. He is also an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. Together with Bond University, he presents the annual John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship which includes one-on-one mentoring with Eales. Eales is a director on the board of the Australian Rugby Union.
Author
Eales has written two books, Learning From Legends, a Sport, and a Business version.
