Ed Craig

Ed Craig (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian rugby union player who has played for Australian Schoolboys and Australian Under 20s. He plays hooker for Eastwood Rugby Club's first grade side in Sydney's Shute Shield competition and for Sydney in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). Craig experienced a remarkable 2020, beginning the year as a teacher at Sydney’s Barker College, before making a surprise Super Rugby debut for the Queensland Reds in Round 5 of the former Super Rugby competition[1] against the Japanese Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium. In October 2020 he finished Eastwood's Shute Shield season with a narrow Grand Final loss to Gordon, and in November signed with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2021 Super Rugby season.[2]

Ed Craig
Birth nameEdward James Craig
Date of birth (1996-07-20) 20 July 1996
Place of birthSydney, Australia
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight108 kg (238 lb; 17 st 0 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016– Eastwood ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017 Greater Sydney Rams 2 (0)
2019 Sydney 7 (10)
Correct as of 23 November 2020
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2020 Reds 2 (5)
2021– Rebels ()
Correct as of 23 November 2020

Early life and junior rugby

Ed Craig (Edward James Craig) was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up in Eastwood. He played junior club rugby with Hillview Rugby Club (now Central Eastwood),[3] junior rep rugby with Eastwood Rugby Club and school rugby with Epping Boys High School.

He played in the EBHS 1st XV in 2012, 2013 (VC) and 2014 (C) and was selected for the Combined High Schools (CHS) 1st XV and Combined States in the 2013 Australian Schoolboy Rugby Championships.

In 2014, Craig was captain of the CHS 1st XV [4] and selected for the NSW 1st XV [5] which went on to win the national title at the Australian Schoolboy Rugby Championships.[6] He was selected for the Australian Schoolboys NZ tour in 2014 [7] and played in tests against Fiji and New Zealand.[8][9] Craig was awarded the Volvo Australian Schools Rugby Scholarship in 2014.[10]

Rugby career

Craig was part of the NSW Waratahs Gen Blue squad in 2015 and 2016, [11] [12] [13] and played for NSW in the Australian Super Under 20s Championship in both years. In 2016, he was called into the Australian Under 20s side for the World Rugby U20s Championships in Manchester, England, where he played Tests against Scotland and NZ.[14]

Craig plays club rugby for Eastwood in Sydney's Shute Shield competition. He played in the colts 1st XV in 2014 and 2015, then played in 1st and 2nd Grade behind Eastwood’s two contracted NSW Waratah Super Rugby hookers Hugh Roach and Damien Fitzpatrick in 2016, 2017 and 2018. [15]

In 2019 Craig played every game for Eastwood’s 1st Grade side, coming second in the Shute Shield Club Championship and making the semi-finals. [16] [17] [18] Craig was Eastwood's ‘Rookie of the Year’ in 2017, played in the Shute Shield second grade Grand Final in 2018 and named in Eastwood's 'All Stars' team in 2018. [19] [20] [21]

His was selected for the Greater Sydney Rams in the National Rugby Competition (NRC) in 2017 and the Sydney NRC team in 2019. [22] By round six of the 2019 NRC comp he had 2 tries, 66 tackles, 6 turnovers, 30 carries, 3 clean breaks and a 90% success rate in lineouts. [23] Craig has played 68 first grade games for Eastwood (at end 2020 season) with 20 tries. [24] [25]

In February 2020 Craig got his first Super Rugby cap [1] with the Queensland Reds as replacement for injured Reds and Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.[26] In October 2020 he finished Eastwood's Shute Shield season with a narrow Grand Final loss to Gordon, and in November signed with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2021 Super Rugby season.[2]

Outside rugby

Craig has a Bachelor of Education (Health and Physical Education) from the University of Sydney. He teaches Christian Studies and PDHPE, and coaches rugby, at Sydney's Barker College.

Super Rugby statistics
As of 23 November 2020[27]
SeasonTeamGamesStartsSubMinsTriesConsPensDropsPointsYelRed
2020 Reds20241000500
Total20241000500

References
  1. "Queensland Reds on Instagram: "50 games apart - congrats Ed on your debut, and Nella on the half-century! 🙌🏉🐨👍 #RedsFamily #REDvSUN #StandUp"". Instagram. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  2. "Rebels Add More Depth for 2021". melbournerebels.rugby. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  3. "Central Eastwood Rugby". Central Eastwood Rugby. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  4. "Ed Craig playing for CHS 1st XV v GPS 1st XV". Green and Gold Rugby Forum.
  5. "Ed Craig Australian combined High school Captain and Oliver Green CHS Football Captain - Epping Boys High School". eppingboy-h.schools.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  6. "NSW I wins Australian Schoolboys Championships for 2014". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  7. "Australian Schoolboys teams: 2004-2015". Rugby News. 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  8. "Aussie Schools Leave On Tour | Rugby365". rugby365.com. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  9. "Australian Schoolboy Team Lists - 2010-2018" (PDF). Schools Rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  10. "RUPA: 2014 Volvo Australian Schools Rugby Scholarships announced". rupa.rugby. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  11. "NSW Waratahs 2016 Gen Blue training squad announced". Rugby News. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  12. "NSW Under 20s doing the business". Green and Gold Rugby. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  13. "Waratahs Under 20s have solid first hit out". Green and Gold Rugby. 2015-12-18. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  14. "Edward Craig". www.ultimaterugby.com. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  15. "2017 Shute Shield Season Preview: Eastwood". Rugby News. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  16. "Qualifying Finals for Shute Shield". Shute Shield. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  17. "Results, 2019 Season - SRU Premiership Competition - Intrust Super Shute Shield (1st Grade)". nswpremresults.fusesport.com. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  18. Robinson, Georgina (2019-08-11). "Eastwood avenge loss to Easts, book semis spot". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  19. "EDRUFC Awards 2017". Eastwood Rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  20. "2018 Colin Caird Shield Grand Final: Eastwood". Behind the Ruck. 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  21. "Eastwood Rugby Club web page". eastwoodrugby.com.au. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  22. "Sydney confirms NRC squad". NSW Waratahs. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  23. https://nsw.rugby/news/2019/10/22/in-focus-jake-gordon-and-ed-craig
  24. Ed Craig rugby highlights 2019 Shute shield & NRC Season, retrieved 2019-10-17
  25. Fusesport game stats. "Fusesport Shute Shield game statistics". nswpremresults.fusesport.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  26. "Reds call up Sydney club player to help solve hooking crisis". www.couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  27. "Player Statistics". It's Rugby.
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