Australian Rugby has been deeply saddened by the passing of former Wallabies winger Jeff McLean who died today after a protracted battle with cancer.
He was 63.
A member of Australian Rugby’s “Royal Family”, Jeff McLean played 13 Tests for the Wallabies from 1971 to 1974 before a badly broken leg forced him into premature retirement.
His career in the Australian jumper included two Test tries – both scored against the All Blacks in Christchurch in the third Test of the 1972 Bledisloe Cup series.
The Qantas Wallabies will play the All Blacks at the same ground tomorrow night, and will wear black armbands in a mark of respect to the winger who also represented Queensland from 1969 to 1974.
Jeff McLean played his final Test in the same game in which his younger brother Paul made his international debut, against New Zealand in Sydney in 1974.
The brothers and their cousin Peter were the latest in a line of six Test-playing Wallabies, spanning three generations, to emerge from one of Australia’s most distinguished sporting families.
Jeff McLean, like his brother Paul, was a noted goal kicker and scored 85 points on Australia’s 1972 tour of New Zealand, with 11 conversions and nine penalty goals complementing nine tries.
Former Wallabies captain and now QRU President, Tony Shaw, said all of Australian Rugby would be deeply saddened by the news of his death.
“Jeff was an amazingly talented Rugby player who achieved much during a relatively short representative career with Queensland and Australia,” Shaw said.
“He represented Queensland from 1969 to 1974 and as a Wallaby between 1971 and 1974 he played against the best teams in the world in his 13 Tests, excelling in all of them.
“He would undoubtedly have gone on to an even more highly decorated career had not a badly broken leg brought a premature end to his playing career in 1974, just a month after he and his brother Paul played their only Test match together.
“The Rugby world is poorer for his passing.”
JEFFREY JAMES McLEAN
Born: 26/01/1947
Place of birth: Ipswich
Position: Winger
Wallaby Number: 541
Test caps for Australia: 13
Non-Test appearances for Australia: 19
Test points: 31 (2 tries, 7 pen goals, 1 con)
Test debut: v South Africa in Brisbane 1971
Last Test: v New Zealand in Sydney 1974
