ACT Brumbies prop James Slipper became the most capped Australian in Super Rugby history on Saturday when he played in his 178th match.
Slipper reached the milestone when the Brumbies kicked off their round seven home match against the New South Wales Waratahs, with the 34-year-old having been welcomed warmly onto the field by the Canberra crowd.
It lifts the loosehead one match ahead of former Wallabies hooker Stephen Moore and into fifth place on the all-time list of Super Rugby’s most enduring players.
Former Canterbury Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett leads the way on 202 matches, followed by three other New Zealand All Blacks — Aaron Smith (185), Liam Messam (182) and Sam Whitelock (181).
Slipper told a mid-week press conference that Moore had been in contact to congratulate him.
“Just wishing me all the best. He’s a respected player so you get a text from him, someone I’ve played a lot of rugby with, it’s always nice,” Slipper said of former Wallabies captain Moore, who retired in 2017.
“It’s a nice feeling to be up there in the company of players like him.”
Slipper and Moore share numerous similarities, with both having played more than 100 Tests for Australia while enjoying Super Rugby stints at both the Brumbies and Queensland Reds.
Slipper’s career began with the Reds in 2010 and he played 104 matches there until 2018, when he was suspended for two months after testing positive for cocaine.
He shifted to the Brumbies the following year and said the stint in Canberra had given his career a second wind.
