Larkham
Stephen Larkham is a giant of Australian rugby who was capped more than 100 times by the Wallabies.
Stephen Larkham Bio
Stephen Larkham is a former fullback and fly-half who represented Australia more than 100 times. Since his retirement from the game, he’s enjoyed a hugely successful career as a coach. Stephen Larkham was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021.
Although he started his career at fullback, Stephen Larkham’s transition to fly-half turned him into one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Known for his elusive runs and metronomic kicking, he became the lynchpin of several potent backlines during his playing days.
Stephen Larkham first came to the attention of rugby fans across Australia when he began to represent the Brumbies in 1996. Between then and 2007, he made more than 100 appearances for the side, and helped them capture the Super Rugby title twice (2001 and 2004).
During the same period, Stephen Larkham was capped by Australia an impressive 102 times. Although he was first called into the squad as a fullback, he was converted into a fly-half by Rod Macqueen. Although controversial, the move was a masterstroke and Stephen Larkham even scored the winning drop goal in extra time of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final win over South Africa. The feat was considered even more remarkable due to Stephen Larkham’s poor vision (which he later had corrected with laser eye surgery) and a knee injury that he picked up earlier in the game.
Throughout the years, Stephen Larkham remained a vital player for Australia and the Brumbies. However, post-2006, his career started to become blighted by injuries and he played his final test for Australia in 2007. In the same year, he left the Brumbies and moved to Japan, where he represented the Ricoh Black Rams until his retirement in 2010.
Since his retirement from the game, Stephen Larkham has forged a successful career as a coach. He’s been the assistant and head coach of the Brumbies, and he was the attack coach for Australia between 2015 and 2019. Since then, he’s been the senior coach at Munster.