Ed Craig

Ed Craig (born 20 July 1996) is a teacher at SHORE school in North Sydney where he teaches PDHPE and Christian studies. Previously, Craig was a PDHPE teacher at Barker College in Sydney.^[1] He has played rugby union for the NSW Waratahs^[2] the Melbourne Rebels^[3] and the Queensland Reds.^[4] He played for Australian Schoolboys and Australian Under 20s and for Sydney in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). Craig is currently playing in the Sydney Shute Shield competition for his home club Eastwood. His position is hooker.

Ed Craig

Birth name	Edward James Craig
Date of birth	(1996-07-20) 20 July 1996 (age 26)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	108 kg (238 lb; 17 st 0 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2016– Eastwood () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2017 Greater Sydney Rams 2 (0) 2019 Sydney 7 (10) Correct as of 23 November 2020 Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 2020 Reds 2 (5) 2021 Rebels 2 (0) 2022– Waratahs 1 (0) Correct as of 1 May 2022

Early life and junior rugby

Ed Craig (Edward James Craig) was born in Sydney (Eastwood) in Australia and played junior club rugby with Hillview Rugby Club (now Central Eastwood),^[5] junior rep rugby with Eastwood Rugby Club and school rugby with Epping Boys High School.

He played in the EBHS 1st XV (2012-2014), Combined High Schools (CHS) 1st XV and Combined States in the 2013 Australian Schoolboy Rugby Championships. In 2014, Craig captained the CHS 1st XV^[6] and played in the NSW 1st XV^[7] which won the Australian Schoolboy Rugby Championships.^[8] He played for Australian Schoolboys in their NZ tour 2014^[9] against Fiji and New Zealand.^[10][11] Craig won the Volvo Australian Schools Rugby Scholarship in 2014.^[12]

Rugby career

Craig was part of the NSW Waratahs Gen Blue squad and played for NSW in the Australian Super Under 20s Championship.^[13][14][15] In 2016 he joined the Australian Under 20s side for the World Rugby U20s Championships in Manchester, England, where he played against Scotland and NZ.^[16]

Craig plays club rugby for Eastwood in Sydney's Shute Shield competition. He played colts 1st XV (2014-2015), and then 1st and 2nd Grade behind Eastwood’s two contracted NSW Waratah Super Rugby hookers Hugh Roach and Damien Fitzpatrick (2016-2018).^[17] Craig played hooker for Eastwood’s 1st Grade side (2019-2022).

He played for the Greater Sydney Rams in the National Rugby Competition (NRC) (2017) and the Sydney NRC (2019).^[18][19] Craig has played 150 games for Eastwood - 130 in first grade - with 41 tries and 205 points.^[20][21]

In February 2020 Craig got his first Super Rugby cap^[4] with the Queensland Reds as replacement for injured Reds and Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.^[22] In October 2020 he finished Eastwood's Shute Shield season with a narrow Grand Final loss to Gordon. In November 2020 he signed with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2021 Super Rugby season^[3], and was backup hooker for the NSW Waratahs in 2022.^[23]

Outside rugby

Craig has a Bachelor of Education (Health and Physical Education) from the University of Sydney. He teaches Christian Studies and PDHPE and coaches rugby at Sydney's SHORE school.

Super Rugby statistics

As of 12 June 2021^[24]

Season	Team	Games	Starts	Sub	Mins	Tries	Cons	Pens	Drops	Points	Yel	Red
2020	Reds	2	0	2	4	1	0	0	0	5	0	0
2021 AU	Rebels	2	0	2	56	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021 TT	Rebels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2022 TT	Waratahs	1	0	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		5	0	5	65	1	0	0	0	5	0	0

References

1. Linkedin (1 February 2022). "Linkedin Profile". Linkedin.
2. https://www.espn.com/rugby/lineups?gameId=595152&league=242041
3. "Rebels Add More Depth for 2021". melbournerebels.rugby. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
4. "Queensland Reds on Instagram: "50 games apart - congrats Ed on your debut, and Nella on the half-century! 🙌🏉🐨👍 #RedsFamily #REDvSUN #StandUp"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
5. "Central Eastwood Rugby". Central Eastwood Rugby. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
6. "Ed Craig playing for CHS 1st XV v GPS 1st XV". Green and Gold Rugby Forum. from the original on 1 September 2019.
7. "Ed Craig Australian combined High school Captain and Oliver Green CHS Football Captain - Epping Boys High School". eppingboy-h.schools.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
8. "NSW I wins Australian Schoolboys Championships for 2014". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
9. "Ed Craig". schoolsrugby.com.au. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
10. "Aussie Schools Leave On Tour | Rugby365". rugby365.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
11. "Australian Schoolboy Team Lists - 2010-2018" (PDF). Schools Rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
12. "RUPA: 2014 Volvo Australian Schools Rugby Scholarships announced". rupa.rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
13. "NSW Waratahs 2016 Gen Blue training squad announced". Rugby News. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
14. "NSW Under 20s doing the business". Green and Gold Rugby. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
15. "Waratahs Under 20s have solid first hit out". Green and Gold Rugby. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
16. "Edward Craig". www.ultimaterugby.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
17. "2017 Shute Shield Season Preview: Eastwood". Rugby News. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
18. "Sydney confirms NRC squad". NSW Waratahs. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
19. "| Latest Rugby News | NSW Waratahs".
20. Ed Craig rugby highlights 2019 Shute shield & NRC Season, retrieved 17 October 2019
21. Fusesport game stats. "Fusesport Shute Shield game statistics". nswpremresults.fusesport.com. from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
22. "Reds call up Sydney club player to help solve hooking crisis". www.couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
23. "Shore thing: Waratahs send SOS for Shute Shield schoolteacher ahead of Crusaders battle". The Roar. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
24. "Player Statistics". It's Rugby.