Imanol Harinordoquy

Imanol Harinordoquy (born 20 February 1980) is a French rugby union player who typically plays as a number 8 for Stade Toulousain at club level in the Top 14 and for France internationally. Before signing with Biarritz ahead of the 2004–05 season, he played club rugby at Pau.

Harinordoquy has won two Top 14 titles (2005, 2006), five Six Nations victories (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2010), which included three Grand Slams (2002, 2004, 2010) and the 2012 Amlin Cup. He has also lost 2 Heineken Cup finals, in 2006 and 2010.

Biography

Early life

A native of Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Harinordoquy grew up in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Basque: Donibane Garazi). He grew up playing many sports, among them pelota, swimming, football and judo. Harinordoquy began concentrating on the sport of rugby following a knee injury at the age of 14, which limited his football development. He began his career playing for US Nafarroa and quickly advanced in the sport. While excelling at Nafarroa and later Pau, Harinordoquy represented France at under-19 and under-21 levels. He was also brought up in the family's cattle-trading business; when it came time for him to choose between the business and rugby, he opted for the latter. Harinordoquy did, however, earn a BTS in agricultural management.

James Horwill

James Horwill (born 29 May 1985) is an Australian rugby union player, a national and provincial representative Lock forward. He captained the Queensland Reds to a season victory in the 2011 in the Super Rugby competition, his sixth season played at that level and debuted as Wallaby captain in the deciding game of the 2011 Tri Nations, leading the Wallabies to a series victory. He was named as the Australian squad captain for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and was captain of the Wallabies for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia in 2013.

Career

Horwill was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and educated at Brisbane Boys College. He made his Super 14 debut against arch rivals the New South Wales Waratahs in the first game of the 2006 season, after not even being included in the Reds original squad. Horwill proved to be the find of the season, forcing his way into the starting line up and earning a place in the Wallabies spring tour, playing for Australia A in all three of the matches. At 2 metres tall and weighing in at 117 kg, Horwill is known for bumping off defenders with ease; however, he also has a reputation for being a fiery player, seeing himself sin binned fairly often earlier in his career. He has lately calmed down with his on field antics. In 2007 Horwill made his debut for the Wallabies in a test match against Fiji playing the entire game, and was unlucky to not have been included in the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. 2008 was a successful year for Horwill, as he broke into the starting Wallabies team and played 9 games in 2008, starting against New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup. In August 2011, Robbie Deans named James Horwill as captain for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. He debuted as captain in the deciding match of the 2011 Tri Nations series on 27 August 2011.