David Codey
David Codey
1957 -
Rugby International
David Codey was born in Sydney on 7 July1957 and played his early rugby with Manly Juniors. He attended Shore School for four years and then Balgowlah High School before joining Northern suburbs Suburbs where he played his first senior rugby. In 1982 David moved with his family to Orange and he joined the recently formed Orange City Club.
The following year he was selected for his first international match for Australia against Argentina in Brisbane. David had the misfortune to be kicked whilst on the ground and he had to be replaced in the thirty-fourth minute of the match.
David represented New South Wales Country in 1983 -1984 and in the 1984 season he had the distinction of being the only rugby player in history to play for both New South Wales and Queensland in the same season. David played the early part of the 1984 season with New South Wales, then moved to Queensland for the second half of the series where he was selected to represent Queensland.
In 1984 David was selected for the Wallabies Grand Slam tour of the British Isles where he played Tests against England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In addition to these countries, David represented Australia against Argentina, France and the United States of America for a total of 12 matches.
David played for Australia in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, and at the completion of the World Cup he was chosen as the Australian Captain for the one- off match for the Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand. In the playoffs at the end of the World Cup in 1987-1988 David achieved another distinction by being the first Australian sent off in a test match, when English referee Fred Howard dismissed him for stomping on an opponent in the opening minutes of the match against Wales.
David Codey retired from Rugby in 1988 and caused further controversy when he accompanied Australian captain Andrew Slack to South Africa to try and arrange a rebel tour in defiance of the Australian Rugby Union.
David now lives in Brisbane and enjoys Rugby from the sidelines.
