Michael Brial
Birth nameMichael Cameron Brial
Birth date11 May 1970 (age 56)[1]
Birth placeNarrabri, New South Wales, Australia
SchoolNarrabri High School
Height6 ft 4 in
Weight230lb
Youthyears 11984-1986
Youthyears 21986-1992
Youthclubs 1Narrabri Blue Boars
Youthclubs 2Narrabri High School
Amatyears 11986-1992
Amatteam 1Eastern Suburbs
Province 1Central North
Province 2New South Wales
Provinceyears 11986-1992
Provinceyears 21992-1995
Provinceapps 266
Provincepoints 264[2]
Repyears 11987
Repyears 21990
Repyears 31993-1997
Repteam 1Australia U17
Repteam 2Australia U21
Repcaps 313
Reppoints 35
Super 1NSW Waratahs
Superyears 11996-2000
Repsevensyears 11997

Michael Cameron Brial (born 11 May 1970, in Narrabri, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby union player. He played as back-row, usually as number 8.

Career

Club career

Brial grew up playing rugby league in his high school days. He first played rugby union at the age of 14, joining the Narrabri Blue Boars, where his brother Brenden played. Two years later, he joined the Narrabri High School team, with which he won the under-19 Wiburd Shield. He also represented Central North in the U-14, U-16 and U-19 teams. In 1992, Brial made his debut for New South Wales during the match against Wellington at the Athletic Park, earning also a spot in the Australia XV squad for the 1992 end-of-year tour in Ireland and Wales. He also played for the New South Wales Waratahs during the Super 12, where he captained the team between 1998 and 1999, until his retirement in 2000.[3]

International career

Brial earned his first international cap for Australia against France in Bordeaux, on 30 October 1993,[4] as a substitute for Ilie Tabua as blindside flanker. In the second test in Paris, he debuted in the starting XV as a loosehead flanker. He was not called up for the 1995 Rugby World Cup squad. In 1996 he played mostly as number 8 and earned ten caps.[5] In July 1996, during the second Bledisloe Cup test against New Zealand in Brisbane, Brial furiously punched Frank Bunce, with whom he had a feud four years before in a provincial game. However, Brial was not sent out by the referee.[6] His last cap was during the Bledisloe Cup test against New Zealand, on 23 October 1997, in Melbourne. In his entire international career he earned 13 caps in aggregate and scored 1 try and 5 points in aggregate. He also was part of the Australia national rugby sevens team which took part at the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong.

References

  1. ^ "Michael Cameron Brial". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  2. ^ "NSW Waratahs Rugby > Waratahs > Records > All-time player lists". www.nswwaratahs.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  3. ^ "Michael Brial". New Zealand Rugby History. 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  4. ^ "Michael Cameron Brial". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  5. ^ "Michael Cameron Brial". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  6. ^ Paul, Gregor (2012). Top 10 of Everything Rugby. East Gosford, New South Wales: Exisle Publishing. p. 298. ISBN 9781927187883.