Owen Stephens
Owen George Stephens (born 9 January 1947), also known by the nickname of "Noddy", is a New Zealand former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s.[1][2] He has the distinction of being one of only three players to have played international rugby union for both New Zealand and Australia.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Owen George Stephens | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 January 1947 Paeroa, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 6 lb (174 lb; 79 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life and family
Stephens was born in Paeroa in 1947 and educated at Tauranga Boys' College. He is the son of the rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s for Auckland, St. Helens (Heritage № 429), Rochdale Hornets and Bradford Northern (Heritage №); Mortimer Stephens.[2][3][4]
Rugby career
He left New Zealand in 1970 and switched codes from rugby union to rugby league, but he was reinstated back into rugby union while in Australia. However, he later changed codes again to play rugby league.
Rugby union
A wing, Stephens played for Bay of Plenty and Wellington at a provincial level in New Zealand, and for the Athletic Rugby Club in Wellington. In Australia he played at club level for St. George, and represented New South Wales.
He won a single cap for New Zealand, playing in the All Blacks' 19–12 victory over France at Eden Park, Auckland on 10 August 1968, and won five caps for Australia, playing against Tonga and Wales in 1973 and New Zealand in 1974. Only three players have played rugby union at test match level for both New Zealand and Australia: namely Des Connor, Ted Jessep and Stephens.
Rugby league
He played club level rugby league for St. George Dragons (trial), Parramatta Eels (Heritage № 339) (two spells), and Wakefield Trinity (Heritage № 815), as a wing, i.e. number 2 or 5.[2]
References
- "Statistics at en.espn.co.uk (RU)". en.espn.co.uk. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- "Monty Stephens Profile at saints.org.uk". saints.org.uk. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- Knight, Lindsay. "Owen Stephens". New Zealand Rugby Museum. Retrieved 1 January 2012.