Wildcard Latham joins Messam and Speight in committing

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LEGEND LATHAM SIGNS ON AS WILDCARD; MESSAM AND SPEIGHT AMONG LATEST BIG NAMES TO COMMIT TO BRISBANE GLOBAL RUGBY TENS

Legendary Queensland Fullback Chris Latham will don the Reds jersey one more time after St.George Queensland Reds head coach Nick Stiles unveiled him as his Wildcard pick for the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens tournament today.

The 117-cap Queensland Red, who was once a team-mate of Stiles’, has been drafted in to add experience to the Reds squad for the two-day tournament, which takes place at Suncorp Stadium on February 11-12 next year.

The second-highest try-scorer in Wallabies history behind David Campese, Latham is the first ‘wildcard’ selection confirmed for the tournament. Clubs can use the wildcard to bolster their squad with a drawcard player.

The Reds’ confirmation of Latham’s selection coincided with the Chiefs confirming that 43-test All Black Liam Messam will be in their line-up, while the Brumbies on Monday named Wallabies winger Henry Speight to spearhead their Brisbane Global Rugby Tens campaign.

Messam is the most-capped player in Chiefs history with 146 appearances, and is also a double Commonwealth Games rugby Sevens gold medalist.

One of the most dynamic wingers in Super Rugby, Fijian-born Speight has been capped 10 times by the Wallabies since making his debut in 2014.

The high-powered trio unveiled today adds to the growing list of superstars – which includes the likes of Israel Folau, Israel Dagg, Jerome Kaino, Karmichael Hunt, Taniela Tupou, Loni Uhila and Rene Ranger - lining up behind the showpiece tournament.

With over 300 of the best rugby’s players on earth on show, the inaugural event live on Fox Sports in Australia - will feature the ten professional Super Rugby franchises from Australia and New Zealand as well as French powerhouse club Toulon, Japan’s Panasonic Wild Knights, South Africa’s Blue Bulls and the Samoan international team.

Reds coach Stiles is excited about the prospect of linking up with Queensland legend Latham again.

“One of the great concepts with this 10-a-side tournament is you can bring in a marquee - a former player - and Chris Latham loved playing in front of his Queensland fans,” Stiles said.

“He was an exciting footballer and he’s still in great shape. He’ll make a genuine impact for us and I’m sure the Queensland public will get right behind him and be rapt to see him in a Reds jersey again.”

Latham, who represented Queensland for a decade between 1998-2008 and retired from professional rugby in 2012, said: “I’m very humbled and honoured to be given this opportunity to come back into the Queensland family for the Brisbane Tens.

"I only realised how much I cherished wearing that Queensland jersey once I’d retired and I’m looking forward to passing on my experience and explaining to the younger generation coming through how much that jersey means to me. I won’t let that jersey down.

“I started coaching in Japan once I retired from playing and I love to keep fit and to show the guys by example what I expect from them on the field. I love running around with the boys at NTT Docomo in Japan at training. I look forward to the sessions when the boys are one man short so I can train with them.”

Latham made his Wallabies debut in 1998 against France at the Stade de France in Paris. He went on to win 78 Test caps, 68 as a starter, crossing for 40 tries along the way.

In the Reds jersey, he scored 211 points and crossed for 41 tries to become the State’s leading Super Rugby try scorer. In the 2002 Super Rugby season, he scored 10 tries and still holds the Reds' record for the most tries scored in a Super Rugby season.

He won the ‘Australian Super 12 Player of the Year’ on four occasions (2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005) and holds the record for the fastest try in Super 12 history (21 seconds vs Brumbies in 2003 at Ballymore).

He represented the Wallabies at three Rugby World Cups - 1999, 2003 and 2007. In 1999, Latham was a member of the World Cup-winning squad, featuring in the earlier matches before missing out on a starting berth in the final.

In the 2003 tournament, he scored an unprecedented five tries against Namibia at the Adelaide Oval.

Latham won his fourth and final Super 12 player of the year in 2005, before becoming the first backline player to win the John Eales Medal in 2006. Having returned from knee injury, Latham played all five of the Wallabies 2007 World Cup matches in France.

The Brisbane Global Rugby Tens, founded by major events company Duco Events - the creator of the NRL Auckland Nines tournament – will be presented in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane City Council through Brisbane Marketing.

Ten stars lining up for the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens

Israel Folau (Waratahs)

Israel Dagg (Crusaders)

Jerome Kaino (Blues)

Chris Latham (Reds, wildcard player)

Karmichael Hunt (Reds)

Liam Messam (Chiefs)

Henry Speight (Brumbies)

Rene Ranger (Blues)

Loni Uhila (Hurricanes)

Taniela Tupou (Reds)

BRISBANE GLOBAL RUGBY TENS - AT A GLANCE

• Ten Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby clubs and four elite invitational teams will compete (in 2017 the event will feature Toulon, the Bulls, Samoa and the Panasonic Wild Knights)

• Ten-players-per-side, ten-minutes-per-half, knockout tournament

• Culmination of a week-long festival of rugby

• 16 hours of compelling live rugby, featuring 28 matches played over two days

• Broadcast live across Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan, Africa, France and other major international markets

• Held annually on the second weekend of February, two weeks prior to the start of the Super Rugby season, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

• Launches the rugby season in Australia and New Zealand

• Sanctioned by the Australian Rugby Union and New Zealand Rugby

BRISBANE GLOBAL RUGBY TENS RULES

• The rules of the Brisbane Global Tens are based on World Rugby’s official rugby tens rules

• Essentially a hybrid of the traditional 15-a-side game and rugby sevens, the objective is to promote free-flowing and fast paced rugby, while still retaining the physical intensity and enthralling forward and backline play that rugby fans love

• Ten players per team on field, with unlimited interchanges

• Ten minute halves, two-minute half-time

• Knockout matches drawn after regulation are continued into extra time, in multiple five-minute periods

• All conversion attempts must be drop-kicked

• Conversions must be taken within 40 seconds of scoring a try

• Five player scrums

• Scoring team kicks off

• Yellow cards net a three-minute suspension

• Referees rule on advantage quickly (where one play usually ends advantage)

TICKET INFORMATION

• For ticketing information visit the official Brisbane Global Rugby Tens website www.brisbaneglobaltens.com or http://www.ticketek.com.au/BrisbaneTens

• For official travel packages from outside of Brisbane to the Brisbane Global Tens visit https://sportsnetholidays.com/events/rugby/brisbane-global-tens-2017/

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