Nic White

A nippy half-back with a sharp pass, long-range kicking game and a good sense of spatial awareness, Nic White has performed with distinction for both the ACT Brumbies and the Wallabies.

White played fly half during his early schoolboy days but made the switch to scrum half when he was 15. A medial ligament injury ruled him out of contention for Australian Schools in 2008 however his talents were clearly identified as he won selection to successive Junior World Championships in 2009 and 2010.

A Brumbies Academy graduate, White then made his Super Rugby debut against the Queensland Reds in 2011. A vicious coward punch at a Canberra music festival in early 2012, one that left him with a broken jaw, proved to be a decisive moment in White’s career. A renewed outlook was reflected in his football and within six months White was selected on the bench for all three home Tests against Wales before a shoulder operation ended his season.

He returned to top form for the Brumbies in 2013 as they featured in their first Super Rugby Final since 2004. Unfortunately, another shoulder injury saw him miss the highly anticipated series against the British & Irish Lions. White was then named in new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie’s first squad for the 2013 Rugby Championship and he went on to win his first Test cap against New Zealand in Sydney. With Will Genia out of action following ankle surgery, White consolidated his position within the Wallabies over the course of 2014 before he was a controversial omission from the 2015 Rugby World Cup squad.

White then made the decision to leave Australia when he signed a two-year contract with Montpellier in France. He moved to the Exeter Chiefs for the 2017-18 season and looked set to remain in the U.K. for some time. Then, on the eve of the 2019 English Premiership final, White confirmed that he had signed a contract with the Brumbies. White returned home, played a dominant role in Australia’s record-breaking win over New Zealand in Perth, and then won selection to RWC’19 in Japan.

Post-RWC19, White has been involved in a three-year, three-way tussle with Tate McDermott and Jake Gordon for the Wallabies’ No.9 jersey. Nonetheless, the statistics show that White has held a firm grip on the position with 22 starts from Australia’s 30 Tests (2020-22).

Highlights

2009 Selected in the Australian squad for the second-annual IRB U20s Junior World Championships in Japan.

2010 Selected in the Australian squad for the third-annual IRB U20s Junior World Championships in Argentina.

2013 White won his first Test cap off the bench when he replaced Will Genia in the 27-49, 1st Test loss to New Zealand in Sydney. He won a total of 10 caps over the course of the year including a first run-on XV appearance in the 14-13 victory over Argentina in Perth.

2014 White started at half-back in the opening five Tests and won a total of nine caps for the year.

2015 He won a further three caps over the course of the Rugby Championship including a match-winning cameo off the bench in the 27-19, 1st Test win over New Zealand. A see-sawing Test turned in the 66th minute when Wallabies half Nick Phipps was given a yellow-card and subsequently did not return. White, Phipps’ replacement, landed a booming penalty goal from halfway to edge the Wallabies ahead 20-19 before he both scored and converted the match-winning try.

2019 White earned nine Test caps, six as the run-on XV halfback, and only missed the pre-World Cup win over Samoa.

2020 He started all six Tests of the COVID-interrupted international season.

2021 A medial cruciate ligament injury, suffered during training at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, saw White miss the home series against France and the first Bledisloe Test. He won three caps off the bench before he was promoted to the run-on side for the year’s final seven internationals.

2022 White was capped in 12 of the Wallabies’ 14 Tests, won his 50th cap in the third Test against England, and started the first seven through the South African matches in The Rugby Championship. He later returned to the run-on side to face world numbers one and two, Ireland and France, on the Spring Tour.