James Slipper

Born, raised and schooled on Queensland’s Gold Coast, James Slipper has developed into one of the elite prop forwards in Australian rugby.

He captained The Southport School to the 2007 GPS title although he was far from the only star in a team that included fellow future Wallabies Ben Tapuai, Rob Simmons, Luke Morahan and Jono Lance. Slipper subsequently won selection for Australian Schools and in 2009 he was voted Australia’s player of the U21 World Championship.

Fast tracked into the wider Queensland Reds squad by coach Ewen McKenzie for the 2010 season, Slipper debuted in the narrow opening round loss to New South Wales. A mere four months later he endured a baptism of fire - the Australian scrum had already conceded one penalty try - when he played his maiden Test against England in Perth.

Over the next six years Slipper established himself as a permanent fixture in the Wallaby match day squad. Along the way he twice won the Reds’ Pilecki Medal for Player’s Player of the year (2012 and 2014) and in 2015 Slipper was honoured with the captaincy when he led the Wallabies against the U.S.A in Chicago.

A combination of injury and personal issues disrupted the 2017 and 2018 seasons before a move south to the Brumbies in 2019 reinvigorated Slipper’s career and earned him selection to a third Rugby World Cup. During that tournament Slipper, in his 94th Test and at the time ranked second only to New Zealand’s Owen Franks (108) as having played the most internationals without scoring a dry, broke his duck in the pool match against Uruguay.

Slipper’s redemption was made complete in 2022 when, in the absence of long-time skipper Michael Hooper, he led the Wallabies through both The Rugby Championship and the Spring Tour.

In 2024, Slipper would etch himself into the history books by becoming the most capped Wallaby in Test Rugby, going past George Gregan's record of 139 caps in Bledisloe One at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

In the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season, he started 14 out of the Brumbies' 15 matches, scoring one try.

He would then play in all three Tests against the British & Irish Lions, becoming only the second Wallaby to play against the Lions in two separate series. He scored a try in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

He will play on with the Brumbies in the 2026 Super Rugby season, having signed a one-year extension.