Des Connor

Desmond Michael Connor (born 9 August 1935 in Ashgrove, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby union player and coach. He played for both the Australia and New Zealand national teams, and later coached Australia. He is an inductee in the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.

Playing career Australia After taking up the game at Marist College Ashgrove, Connor honed his skills further with the Brothers club. He made his representative debut for Queensland in 1954 and made further appearances for the state over the next five years.

He was selected in Australia national squad for the Wallabies' 1957–58 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France. Connor made his Australian test debut on 4 January 1958 against Wales and played in all five internationals on the tour. Later that year he captained the Wallabies in Tests against the New Zealand Maori, and then played against the All Blacks on a tour of New Zealand.

At the start of the 1960s he left Australia to continue his teaching career in New Zealand, working at Takapuna Grammar.

Coaching He was to return to Australian rugby as a coach firstly at Brisbane Brothers, then Queensland and Australia. He led the Wallabies in that role in their home series against New Zealand in 1968. A keen tactician and student of the game, Connor studied the rulebook and after consulting with referees, he introduced in the first Test the first short lineout used in the Southern Hemisphere.