Samo (died 658) was a Frankish merchant from the "Senonian country" (Senonago), probably modern Soignies, Belgium or Sens, France.^[1] He was the first ruler of the Slavs (623–658) whose name is known, and established one of the earliest Slav states, a supra-tribal union usually called (King) Samo's empire, realm, kingdom, or tribal union.

Primary sources[link]

The main source of written information on Samo and his empire is the Fredegarii Chronicon, a Frankish chronicle written in the mid-seventh century (c. 660). Though theories of multiple authorship abounded once, the notion of a single "Fredegar" is common scholarly fare today.^[2] The last or only Fredegar was the author of the brief account of the Wends in which is found the best, and only contemporary, information on Samo.

All other sources for Samo are derived from Fredegar, and are much more recent. The Gesta Dagoberti I regis Francorum ("Deeds of King Dagobert I of the Franks") was written in the first third of the ninth century. The Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum ("Conversion of the Bavarians and Karantanians") from Salzburg (the Bavarian ecclesiastic centre), written in 871–872, is a very tendentious source, as its name suggests. According mainly to the Conversio, Samo was a Karantanian merchant.

The sources "Fredegar" used to compile his Wendish account are unknown. A few scholars have attacked the entire account as fictitious, but Fredegar displays a critical attitude and a knowledge of detail that suggest otherwise.^[3] It is possible that he had an eyewitness in the person of Sicharius, the ambassador of Dagobert I to the Slavs.^[2] According to Fredegar, the "Wends" had long been subjects and befulci of the Avars. Befulci is a term, cognate with the word fulcfree found in the Edict of Rothari, signifying "entrusted [to guard]", from the Old German root felhan, falh, fulgum and Middle German bevelhen.^[3] Fredegar appears to have envisaged the Wends as a military unit of the Avar host. He probably based his account on "native" Wendish accounts.^[3] Fredegar records the story of the origo gentis (origin of the people) of the Wends. The Wends were Slavs, but Samo was only king of the Wends, at least in Fredegar's eyes.^[3]

It has also been suggested that Fredegar's sources may have been the reports of Christian missionaries, especially disciples of Columbanus and the Abbey of Luxeuil.^[3] If this is the case, it may explain why he is remarkably free of typical stereotypes of heathen Slavs: he was familiar with the Wends as a specifically pagan nation.^[3]

Reign[link]

Samo's dates are based on Fredegar, who says that he went to the Slavs in the fortieth year of Chlothar II (623–4) and reigned for thirty five years.^[4] The interpretation of Fredegar which places the start of Samo's reign in the year of his arrival has been questioned on the basis that the Wends would have most likely rebelled after the defeat of the Avar khagan at the First Siege of Constantinople in 626.^[4] The Avars first arrived in the Carpathian Basin and subdued the local Slavs in the 560s. Samo may have been one of the merchants who supplied arms to the Slavs for their regular revolts. Whether he became king during a revolt of 623–4 or during the one which inevitably followed the Avar defeat in 626, he definitely took advantage of the latter to solidify his position.^[4] A string of victories over the Avars proved his utilitas (usefulness) to his subjects and secured his election as rex (king).^[5] Samo went on to secure his throne by marriage into the major Wendish families, wedding at least twelve women and fathering twenty-two sons and fifteen daughters.^[6]

The most famous event of Samo's career is his victory over Frankish royal army under Dagobert I in 631 or 632. Provoked to action by a "violent quarrel in the Pannonian kingdom of the Avars or Huns" during his ninth year (631–2), Dagobert led three armies against the Wends, the largest being composed of Austrasians under himself.^[7] The Franks were routed near Wogastisburg (Latin castrum Wogastisburc), an unidentified location meaning "fortress/castle of Vogast." In the aftermath of the Wendish victory, the Sorbian prince Dervan abandoned the Franks and "placed himself and his people under Samo" (Fredegar).^[8] Samo even invaded Frankish Thuringia several times and undertook looting raids there.^{[citation needed]}

In 641 the rebellious duke of Thuringia, Radulf, sought an alliance with Samo against his sovereign, Sigebert III.^[4] Samo also maintained long-distance trade relationships.^[6] On his death, however, his title was not inherited by his sons.^[8] Ultimately, Samo can be credited with forging a Wendish identity by speaking on behalf of the community which recognised his authority.^[9]

Extent of his empire[link]

Possible territory of Samo's kingdom

Archaeological findings indicate that the "empire" was situated in present-day Moravia, Slovakia, Lower Austria and Slovenia. According to Slovak historian Richard Marsina, it is not very probable that the center of Samo's tribal union was in the territory of present-day Slovakia.^[10] The settlements of the later Moravian and Nitrian principalities (see Great Moravia) are often identical with those from the time of Samo's Empire. Since we have no direct documentation about the Slavonic tribes and their names or their political organization between the 6th and 7th centuries,^[10] furthermore, because we don't have any concrete records from the following 150 years long period,^[10] there is no historical evidence to suppose or to prove any connection between Samo's kingdom and the ethnogenesis of the Slovaks.^[10]

Probably present-day Bohemia, Sorbia at the Elbe, and the state of Karantania became parts of the empire later (in the 630s), as well.^[11] Although the Slavs, led by King Samo, managed to defeat all Avar attacks, Slav conflicts with Frankish merchants, in which merchants were killed and goods stolen, forced them to fight against the Franks as well.

The history of the empire after Samo's death in 658 or 659 is largely unclear. It is generally assumed that it disappeared with Samo's death. Archaeological findings show that the Avars returned to their previous territories (at least to southernmost part of present-day Slovakia) and entered into a symbiosis with the Slavs, whereas territories to the north of the Avar empire were purely Slav territories. The first specific thing that is known about the fate of these Slavs and Avars, is the existence of the Moravian and Nitrian principalities in the late eighth century which were attacking the Avars, and the defeat of the Avars by the Franks under Charlemagne in 799 or 802–3, after which the Avars quickly ceased to exist.

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Marsina, Richard (1997). Ethnogenesis of Slovaks, Human Affairs, 7, 1997, 1. Trnava, Slovakia: Faculty of Humanities, University of Trnava. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat
Born	(1960-12-22)December 22, 1960 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Died	August 12, 1988(1988-08-12) (aged 27) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Field	Graffiti, painting, poetry, musician, producer
Movement	Neo-expressionism
Influenced by	Jean Dubuffet, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol

Jean-Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist.^[1] He began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s and evolved into a Neo-expressionist painter during the 1980s.

Early life[link]

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born after the death of his brother Max in Brooklyn, New York, the second of four children to Matilda Andrades (July 28, 1934 – November 17, 2008)^[2] and Gerard Basquiat (born 1930).^[3] He had two younger sisters: Lisane, born in 1964, and Jeanine, born in 1967.^[2]

His father, Gerard Basquiat, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and his mother, Matilde Basquiat, was of Puerto Rican descent, born in Brooklyn, New York.^[3][4]

Basquiat was a precocious child who learned how to read and write by age four and was a gifted artist.^[5] His teachers noticed his artistic abilities, and his mother encouraged her son's artistic talent. By the age of eleven, Basquiat could fluently speak, read, and write French, Spanish, and English.^[3][5]

When he was eleven years old, his mother was committed to a mental institution and thereafter spent time in and out of institutions.^[6]

In September 1968, Basquiat was hit by a car while playing in the street. His arm was broken and he suffered several internal injuries, and eventually underwent a splenectomy.^[7] His parents separated that year and he and his sisters were raised by their father.^[3][8] The family resided in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, for five years, then moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1974. After two years, they returned to New York City.^[9]

At 15, Basquiat ran away from home.^[3][10] He slept on park benches in Washington Square Park, and was arrested and returned to the care of his father within a week.^[3][11]

Basquiat dropped out of Edward R. Murrow High School in the tenth grade. His father banished him from the household and Basquiat stayed with friends in Brooklyn. He supported himself by selling T-shirts and homemade post cards. He also worked at the Unique Clothing Warehouse in West Broadway, Manhattan.^[3]

Career[link]

SAMO© color xerox work at A´s, Arleen Schloss, 1979

In 1976, Basquiat and friend Al Diaz began spray-painting graffiti on buildings in Lower Manhattan, working under the pseudonym SAMO. The designs featured inscribed messages such as "Plush safe he think.. SAMO" and "SAMO as an escape clause." On December 11, 1978, the Village Voice published an article about the graffiti.^[12] When Basquiat & Diaz ended their friendship, The SAMO project ended with the epitaph "SAMO IS DEAD," inscribed on the walls of SoHo buildings in 1979.^[13]

In 1979, Basquiat appeared on the live public-access television cable TV show TV Party hosted by Glenn O'Brien, and the two started a friendship. Basquiat made regular appearances on the show over the next few years. That same year, Basquiat formed the noise rock band Test Pattern, later "Gray" which played at Arleen Schloss´s open space, "Wednesdays at A`s" ^[14], where in October 1979 Basquiat showed, among others, his SAMO© color Xerox work. Gray with Shannon Dawson, Michael Holman, Nick Taylor, Wayne Clifford and Vincent Gallo. Gray performed at nightclubs such as Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Hurrah, and the Mudd Club. In 1980, Basquiat starred in O'Brien's independent film Downtown 81, originally titled New York Beat. That same year, Basquiat discovered Andy Warhol, while Basquiat was eating at a restaurant. Basquiat presented to Warhol samples of his work, and Warhol was stunned by Basquait's genius and allure. The men later collaborated. Downtown 81 featured some of Gray's recordings on its soundtrack.^[15] Basquiat also appeared in the Blondie music video "Rapture" as a nightclub disc jockey.^[16]

In June 1980, Basquiat participated in The Times Square Show, a multi-artist exhibition sponsored by Collaborative Projects Incorporated (Colab) and Fashion Moda. In 1981, Rene Ricard published "The Radiant Child" in Artforum magazine,^[17] which brought Basquiat to the attention of the art world.

In late 1981, he joined the Annina Nosei gallery in SoHo. By 1982, Basquiat was showing regularly alongside other Neo-expressionist artists including Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Francesco Clemente, and Enzo Cucchi. He was represented in Los Angeles by the Larry Gagosian gallery and throughout Europe by Bruno Bischofberger. He briefly dated then-aspiring performer, Madonna, in late 1982. That same year, Basquiat also worked briefly with musician and artist David Bowie.

In 1983, Basquiat produced a 12" rap single featuring hip-hop artists, Rammellzee and K-Rob. Billed as Rammellzee vs. K-Rob, the single contained two versions of the same track: "Beat Bop" on side one with vocals and "Beat Bop" on side two as an instrumental.^[18] The single was pressed in limited quantities on the one-off Tartown Record Company label. The single's cover featured Basquiat's artwork, making the pressing highly desirable among both record and art collectors.

Basquiat often painted in expensive Armani suits and would even appear in public in the same paint-splattered suits.^{[19][page needed][20]}

Final years and death[link]

By 1986, Basquiat had left the Annina Nosei gallery, and was showing in the famous Mary Boone gallery in SoHo. On February 10, 1986, he appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in a feature entitled "New Art, New Money: The Marketing of an American Artist".^[21] He was a successful artist in this period, but his growing heroin addiction began to interfere with his personal relationships.

When Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987, Basquiat became increasingly isolated, and his heroin addiction and depression grew more severe.^[13] Despite an attempt at sobriety during a trip to Maui, Hawaii, Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, of a heroin overdose at his art studio in Great Jones Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood. He was 27.^[13][22]

Basquiat was interred in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

Artistic styles[link]

Continuing his activities as a graffiti artist, Basquiat often incorporated words into his paintings. Before his career as a painter began, he produced punk-inspired postcards for sale on the street, and became known for the political–poetical graffiti under the name of SAMO. On one occasion Basquiat painted his girlfriend's dress with the words "Little Shit Brown". He would often draw on random objects and surfaces, including other people's property.

The conjunction of various media is an integral element of Basquiat's art. His paintings are typically covered with text and codes of all kinds: words, letters, numerals, pictograms, logos, map symbols, diagrams and more.^[23]

A middle period from late 1982 to 1985 featured multi-panel paintings and individual canvases with exposed stretcher bars, the surface dense with writing, collage and imagery. The years 1984-85 were also the main period of the Basquiat–Warhol collaborations, even if, in general, they weren't very well received by the critics.

A major reference source used by Basquiat throughout his career was the book Gray's Anatomy, which his mother gave to him while in the hospital at age seven. It remained influential in his depictions of internal human anatomy, and in its mixture of image and text. Other major sources were Henry Dreyfuss Symbol Sourcebook, Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks, and Brentjes African Rock Art.

Basquiat doodled often and some of his later pieces exhibited this; they were often colored pencil on paper with a loose, spontaneous, and dirty style much like his paintings. His work across all mediums display a child-like fascination with the process of creating.^[24]

Representing his heritage in his art[link]

According to Andrea Frohne, Basquiat’s 1983 painting "Untitled (History of the Black People)" "reclaims Egyptians as African and subverts the concept of ancient Egypt as the cradle of Western Civilization".^[25] At the center of the painting, Basquiat depicts an Egyptian boat being guided down the Nile River by Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead.^[26] On the right panel of the painting appear the words “Esclave, Slave, Esclave”. Two letters of the word "Nile" are crossed out and Frohne suggests that, "The letters that are wiped out and scribbled over perhaps reflect the acts of historians who have conveniently forgotten that Egyptians were black and blacks were enslaved."^[26] On the left panel of the painting Basquiat, has illustrated two Nubian style masks. The Nubians historically were darker in skin color, and were considered to be slaves by the Egyptian people.^[27] Throughout the rest of the painting, images of the Atlantic slave trade are juxtaposed with images of the Egyptian slave trade centuries before.^[27] The sickle in the center panel is a direct reference to the slave trade in the United States, and slave labor under the plantation system. The word “salt” that appears on the right panel of the work refers to the Atlantic Slave Trade, as salt was another important commodity to be traded at that time.^[27]

Another of Basquiat’s pieces, "Irony of Negro Policeman" (1981), is intended to illustrate how African-Americans have been controlled by a predominantly Caucasian society. Basquiat sought to portray how complicit African-Americans have become with the “institutionalized forms of whiteness and corrupt white regimes of power” years after the Jim Crow era had ended.^[27] Basquiat found the concept of a “Negro policeman” utterly ironic. It would seem that this policeman should sympathize with his black friends, family and ancestors, yet instead he was there to enforce the rules designed by "white society." The Negro policeman had “black skin but wore a white mask”. In the painting, Basquiat depicted the policeman as large in order to suggest an “excessive and totalizing power”, but made the policeman's body fragmented and broken.^[28] The hat that frames the head of the Negro policeman resembles a cage, and represents how constrained the independent perceptions of African-Americans were at the time, and how constrained the policeman’s own perceptions were within white society. Basquiat drew upon his Haitian heritage by painting a hat that resembles the top hat associated with the Haitian trickster lwa, leader of the Gede family of lwas and guardian of death and the dead in vodou.^[28]

Exhibitions[link]

Basquiat’s first public exhibition was in the group "The Times Square Show" (with David Hammons, Jenny Holzer, Lee Quinones, Kenny Scharf and Kiki Smith among others), held in a vacant building at 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, New York. His first one-person exhibition was in 1982 at the Annina Nosei Gallery, New York.^[29]

The first retrospective was the "Jean-Michel Basquiat" exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art from October 1992 to February 1993. It subsequently traveled to museums in Texas, Iowa, and Alabama from 1993 to 1994. The catalog for this exhibition,^[30] edited by Richard Marshall and including several essays of differing styles, was a groundbreaking piece of scholarship into Basquiat's work and still a major source. Another influential showing was the "Basquiat" exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum March–June 2005 (which subsequently traveled to Los Angeles and Houston from 2005 to 2006).^[31]

Legacy[link]

In 1996, seven years after his death, a biopic titled Basquiat was released, directed by Julian Schnabel, with actor Jeffrey Wright playing Basquiat. David Bowie played the part of Andy Warhol. Schnabel purchased the rights to the project after being interviewed, as a personal acquaintance of Basquiat, during its script development and realizing that he could do a better film.^[32]

In 1991, poet Kevin Young produced a book, To Repel Ghosts, a compendium of 117 poems relating to Basquiat’s life, individual paintings, and social themes found in the artist’s work. He published a “remix” of the book in 2005.^[33]

In 2005, poet M.K. Asante, Jr. published the poem "SAMO," dedicated to Basquiat, in his book Beautiful. And Ugly Too.

A 2009 documentary film, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, directed by Tamra Davis, was first screened as part of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was shown on the PBS series Independent Lens in 2011.^[24]

In 2011, MC/poet/hip hop producer Ohini Jonez released a piece called "Basquiat (PBUH)" on Tumblr to widespread online acclaim.^{[citation needed]}

Both Jay-Z and Kanye West made reference to Basquiat on their 2011 collaborative album "Watch The Throne". In "Illest Motherfucker Alive", Jay-Z raps "Basquiats, Warhols serving as my muses".

Art market[link]

Since Basquiat’s death in 1988, his market has developed steadily — in line with overall art market trends — with a dramatic peak in 2007 when, at the height of the art market boom, the global auction volume for his work was over $115m. Brett Gorvy, deputy chairman of Christie’s, is quoted describing Basquiat’s market as "two-tiered. [...] The most coveted material is rare, generally dating from the best period, 1981-83."^[34] Until 2002, the highest money paid for an original work of Basquiat's was US$3,302,500, set on November 12, 1998 at Christie's. In 2002, Basquiat's Profit I (1982), a large piece measuring 86.5"/220 cm by 157.5"/400 cm, was set for auction again at Christie's by drummer Lars Ulrich of the heavy metal band Metallica. It sold for US$5,509,500.^[35] The proceedings of the auction are documented in the film Some Kind of Monster.

In 2008, at another auction at Christie's, Ulrich sold a 1982 Basquiat piece, Untitled (Boxer), for US$13,522,500 to an anonymous telephone bidder.^[36] Another record price for a Basquiat painting was made on in 2007, when an untitled Basquiat work from 1981 sold at Sotheby's in New York for US$14.6 million.^[37] In 2012, Basquiat's Untitled (1981), a painting of a haloed, black-headed man with a bright red skeletal body, depicted amid the artist’s signature scrawls, was sold by Robert Lehrman for $16.3 million, well above its $12 million high estimate.^[38]

Estate[link]

After Basquiat's death, the Robert Miller Gallery, New York, was chosen to represent the estate by the artist's father, Gerard Jean-Baptiste Basquiat, who became the estate's administrator. In 1991, a $40 million claim by the Vrej Baghoomian Gallery against the estate was dismissed in the New York Surrogate's Court; the gallery had represented Basquiat and, in 1989, alleged having an oral agreement with the artist to be his exclusive representative.^[39]

Authentication Committee[link]

The Authentication Committee of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat was formed by the gallery that was assigned to handle the artist's estate.^[40] Between 1994 and 2012, it reviewed over 2,000 works of art; the cost of the committee's opinion was $100.^[41] The committee was headed by Gerard Basquiat. Members and advisers varied depending on who was available when a piece is being authenticated, but they have included the curators and gallerists Diego Cortez, Jeffrey Deitch, John Cheim, Richard Marshall, Fred Hoffman, and Annina Nosei (the artist’s first art dealer).^[42] In 2008 the authentification committee was sued by collector Gerard De Geer, who claimed the committee breached its contract by refusing to offer an opinion on the authenticity of the painting Fuego Flores (1983);^[43] after the lawsuit was dismissed, the com­mit­tee ruled the work genuine.^[44] In early 2012, the committee announced that it would dissolve in September of that year and no longer consider applications.

See also[link]

• 27 Club

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Buchhart Dieter, O'Brien Glenn, Prat Jean-Louis, Reichling Susanne. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hatje Cantz, 2010. ISBN 978-3-7757-2593-4
• Curley, Mallory. A Cookie Mueller Encyclopedia, Randy Press, 2010.
• Deitch J, Cortez D, and O’Brien, Glen. Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981: the Studio of the Street, Charta, 2007. ISBN 978-88-8158-625-7
• Hoban, Phoebe. Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art (2nd ed.), Penguin Books, 2004.
• Marenzi, Luca. Jean-Michel Basquiat. Charta, 1999. ISBN 978-88-8158-239-6
• Marshall, Richard. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Abrams / Whitney Museum of American Art. Hardcover 1992, paperback 1995. (Catalog for 1992 Whitney retrospective, out of print).
• Marshall, Richard. Jean-Michel Basquiat: In World Only. Cheim & Read, 2005. (out of print).
• Mayer, Marc, Hoffman Fred, et al. Basquiat, Merrell Publishers / Brooklyn Museum, 2005.
• Tate, Greg. Flyboy in the Buttermilk. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. ISBN 978-0-671-72965-3

External links[link]

• Brooklyn Museum Excellent website of the 2005 Basquiat retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.
• Basquiat.com Official site of The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
• Basquiat Biography. (Scholarly but accessible Basquiat website with bibliography, timeline, links to on-line images, school lesson-plans, list of Basquiat works recently at auction, and updated blog of current Basquiat-related events.)
• Basquiat at Artfacts (Commercial site giving listing of Basquiat exhibitions, and works currently on sale.)
• Emmerling, Leonhard. Jean-Michel Basquiat 1960-1988. Köln: Taschen Art Album, 2003.
• Hoban, Phoebe. “SAMO IS DEAD: The Fall of Jean-Michel Basquiat”. New York Magazine. Sept. 26, 1988. pp 36–44.
• Pearlman, Alison. Unpackaging Art of the 1980s.
• Powers, Nicholas. The Radiant Death, a review of the Brooklyn Museum's Basquiat exhibit
• Seed, John. Driving Mr. Basquiat.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, Documentary film by Tamra Davis, screened at Sundance Film Festival 2010
• Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Fun Gallery, excerpt from "Young Expressionists" (ART/New York #19), video, 1982.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child site for Independent Lens on PBS
• Official Trailer for the 2011 documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

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Radike Samo

Date of birth	(1976-07-09) 9 July 1976 (age 35)
Place of birth	Nadi, Fiji
Height	6 ft 5.5 in (1.97 m)
Weight	258 lb (117 kg)
Notable relative(s)	Ravuama Samo (brother)
Rugby union career
Current status
Position(s)	Flanker, Lock, Number Eight, Wing
current team	Reds
Playing career
Position	Lock, Flanker, Number Eight, Wing
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2006-2007 2007-2010	Stade Français Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars	22	(30)
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2000-2006 2010-present	Brumbies Reds	35 23	(20) (20)
correct as of 24 May 2012.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2004, 2011	Australia	16	(15)

Radike Samo (born 9 July 1976 in Nadi, Fiji) is an Australian rugby union player. He plays lock, flanker, number 8 and can even play on the wing. He is 1.97 m tall and weighs 117 kg.

Rugby career[link]

Between 2000 and 2006 he played 35 games for the ACT Brumbies.^{[citation needed]}

He played with the Fiji Under-19's national team before winning 6 caps for the Wallabies in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

In the summer of 2006, he signed a two-year contract with French giants Stade Français after rejecting an offer from Cardiff Blues. He scored a try on his debut with the Paris team after just 6 minutes (v ASM Clermont Auvergne, 30 August 2006, 45-15) and the winning try in the French Championship final against the same team in Stade de France on 9 June 2007, after scoring against Biarritz Olympique in the semi final, both times coming off the bench.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2010, he returned from Japan to play for the Southern Rebels in the Shute Shield competition, before joining the Queensland Reds on a short term contract as cover for James Horwill. He started off slowly but after several games he was dubbed "outstanding" by Reds coach Ewen Mckenzie.^[1] He continued with the Reds in 2011, playing in the team's Super Rugby final triumph on his 35th birthday. The following day it was announced he had been called up to the Wallabies 40-man squad for the Test against Samoa, and TriNations series against New Zealand and South Africa.^[2]

He scored his first test try for the Wallabies during the final Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks in Brisbane on 27 August 2011.^[3] This try was later selected as IRPA's Try of the Year 2011.^{[citation needed]}

At 35 years old, Samo is the oldest player to play for Australia in a Tri-Nations match.^[4] He, unusually, played on the wing for the Wallabies 2011 Rugby World Cup match with Russia,^[5] in place of the injured Drew Mitchell.^[6]

Representative Record[link]

• Senior club in Australia: Canberra
• Super 12/14 debut: 2000 v Reds, Canberra
• Test debut: 2004 v Scotland, Melbourne

Achievements[link]

• Won 2001 & 2004 Super 12 Championship with ACT Brumbies
• Test Rugby Debut: 2004 v Scotland
• 2007 French Top 14 Champion with Stade Français
• Won 2011 Super 15 Championship with Queensland Reds
• Recalled into 2011 Wallabies 40-man Tri-nations and Bledisloe cup squad after a 7 year absence
• Member of Wallabies 2011 Rugby world cup squad
• IRB try of the year award 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

• Queensland Reds profile
• Wallabies profile
• itsrugby.co.uk profile