Simon POIDEVIN

Simon "The Boy From The Bush" Poidevin will be remembered as one of Australia's greatest ever forwards. A fitness fanatic, "Poido" combined speed, strength and dedication to great effect both in defence and attack, and throughout his career carried with him the aura of a very special player. His debut at 21 came against Fiji in 1980 thanks to the absence of backrow stalwarts Mark Loane and Greg Cornelson. He went on to feature in a series triumph against the All Blacks the same year, and followed it up with a 2-0 victory over France in 1981, during which he scored his first test try. Simon was then part of the unsuccessful Wallaby side that toured the UK in 1981/82, but was able to take sweet revenge on the home unions in 1984. Prior to the latter visit, Australia had narrowly lost out to New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup, and according to Simon, this defeat acted as a great motivation: "That gave us a lot of resolve for the tour. We decided we were going to make those UK teams suffer for our disappointment."

The Wallabies were true to their word and won every test, with Simon scoring a superb try against England after tailing a wing raid by David Campese. Two years later Poido experienced an even greater achievement when Australia beat the All Blacks 2-1 in New Zealand, the first time this had been done since 1949. However, the 1987 World Cup ended for the Wallabies in the semi-finals after Simon and his colleagues suffered a mauling from the opposition French forwards. With Australia somewhat in disarray, Simon was then given the captaincy on a disastrous tour of Argentina in which the series was lost 1-0. He missed the second test defeat due to an injured hand, but his hopes were high for the season to come. (Jon Collins)

Simon Poidevin started the 1988 season believing that he would again be made captain of Australia. However, new coach Bob Dwyer gave that honour to Nick Farr-Jones instead, leaving Poido upset and disillusioned. He went into temporary exile as a result and had to be persuaded back for the three test Bledisloe Cup series against New Zealand. Despite Simon's best efforts, Australia were heavily defeated and after the third test he announced his retirement from international rugby. The following year, his absence was clearly visible as Australia's powder puff pack crumbled against the iron hard forwards of the British Lions. As a result of pleas from officialdom and a desire to do battle once again with Wayne "Buck" Shelford, Simon returned to face New Zealand the same season. The test was lost 24-12, but Poidevin had helped restore Australian forward pride and was able to pass on invaluable experience to newcomers such as Phil Kearns and Tim Gavin.

He sat out the 1990 season, but was back again in '91 to join the preparations for the World Cup. His first challenge was to help nullify the English pack in a one off test in Sydney, and his powerful performance demonstrated how different the '89 Lions series might have been had he played. Australia then tied the Bledisloe Cup series 1-1 by winning at home and losing away and headed for the UK in high spirits. Optimism was justified as Australia lifted the trophy with victory over England at Twickenham, Simon's last test in a gold jumper. Mark Ella provided an apt summary of his former teammate, saying: "Simon is such a perfectionist, it's almost a disease. Not only is he the best rugby player in Australia, he's the most determined." In total, Poidevin won 59 caps for Australia, scoring 5 tries. (Jon Collins)