Dan Vickerman

Daniel Joseph Vickerman (4 June 1979 – 18 February 2017) was a professional rugby union player. The 204 cm, 119 kg lock played 63 Tests with the Wallabies, the national team of his adopted country of Australia. In 2011, he returned to Australia and played again for the Wallabies, including at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, before he retired from the game.

Early life Vickerman was born in South Africa and played his early rugby in South Africa. He attended Bishops College in Cape Town and played for their First XV. When he was 17 he spent a year in England playing for Cheltenham Colts (under 19) where he would play with, amongst others, Peter Buxton who himself went on to have a successful professional career, most notably with Premiership club Gloucester. Vickerman and Buxton took a year out together to visit and play rugby for the University of Queensland Rugby Club, Australia. This started Vickerman on the path to representing Australia, first at Under 21 level. After representing South Africa at Under-21 level in 1999, Vickerman arrived in Australia the following year and played for Australia at the 2000 SANZAR-UAR Under-21 tournament. and cemented his place back in the Wallaby starting line up for the Wallabies 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. The following year, he combined his studies with a renewed professional career at Northampton Saints. but arranged to delay his arrival with the team until after the 2009 Varsity Match in December, in which he captained Cambridge to a 31–27 victory over eternal rival Oxford. His first match for the Saints was against Sale Sharks on 7 March 2010.

Vickerman returned to Australia in 2011 to play again for the Waratahs and press his claims for national selection. He worked for the Rugby Union Players' Association after his retirement.

Death Vickerman died on the night of 18 February 2017 at his Sydney home, at the age of 37. The cause of death was confirmed as suicide. He was survived by his wife and two young children.