Rod Kafer
| Full name | Rodney Bruce Kafer | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 25 June 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb) | ||
| School | Canberra Grammar School | ||
| Occupation(s) | Wallabies and Brumbies rugby player, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Centre Flyhalf | ||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2001–03 | Leicester Tigers | 34 | (30) |
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1991–2001 |  ACT and Southern NSW |
89 | (59) |
| Super Rugby | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1996–2001 | Brumbies |
37 | (50) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1999–2000 | Australia |
12 | (5) |
Rodney "Rod" B. Kafer (born 25 June 1971) was a rugby union player for the ACT Brumbies and the Australian Wallabies. He is remembered by Brumbies fans for kicking a drop-goal in the final minute in a 2001 game against the Cats giving the Brumbies a one-point win. He now works for Fox Sports as a rugby commentator and has a weekly segment on the show Rugby HQ called "Fox Field". He attended Canberra Grammar School in his youth. At the age of 15 he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.[1]
Kafer was the first player to have received winners medals from the major Southern and Northern Hemisphere rugby tournaments, the Super 12 with the ACT Brumbies in 2001 and the Heineken Cup with the Leicester Tigers in 2002.[2] The only other players to have achieved this are Doug Howlett, enjoying success with the Auckland Blues in 2003 and Munster in 2008; Brad Thorn, with the Canterbury Crusaders in 2008 and Leinster in 2012; Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw, both of whom won with the Bulls in 2007, 2009 and 2010 and Toulon in 2013; and Matt Giteau with the Brumbies in 2004 and Toulon in 2013.[3]
Kafer is generally considered to be one of the foremost thinkers of the game and is believed to have been the brains behind the Brumbies successes in the early years.[4]
Kafer moved to the northern hemisphere in 2001 and spent two years playing for the Leicester Tigers before signing as player coach for Saracens F.C.. However, when Wayne Shelford was sacked as head coach, Kafer was appointed in his place and gave up playing.[5]
He quit Saracens in December 2004 after a bad start to the season.[6]
In addition to his commentating commitments with Fox Sports Rugby, Kafer presides as a director of the boutique telecommunications company, Totalcom.[7]
References
- ↑ Run sweet account of Kafer's diabetes (google cache)
- ↑ "Tigers retain European Cup". BBC. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
- ↑ "The most glittering rugby CVs in the world?". ESPN Scrum. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ↑ "Who wants to be the next Brumbies coach".
- ↑ "Saracens appoint Kafer as head coach". Saracens F.C. 8 August 2003. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ↑ "Kafer quits Saracens". The Telegraph. 14 December 2004. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ↑ "Rod Kafer - Director of Totalcom".