A lot of pressure has been placed on the Melbourne Rebels this season, with many people toting the team as their ‘team to watch’ in 2014. When there is a lot of expectation placed on a team a lot of attention is directed toward the captain, and in the case of the Melbourne Rebels, that is Scott Higginbotham. So who IS the man with the responsibility of leading the Rebels on the field?
Higginbotham was born on September 5th 1986, in Perth, and after making it into the Reds academy squad in 2007, he made his debut for the Queensland franchise in 2008. It was in 2010 that Higginbotham made his debut for the Wallabies, taking part in the team’s 59-16 win over France in Paris on the end of year tour.
In his 82 Super Rugby caps to date, Higginbotham has scored 25 tries, six of those were in his first season with the Rebels, before he was sidelined by a shoulder injury. Six rounds into the 2014 Super Rugby season, Higginbotham has already scored two tries, and it is easy to see that there are more to come from the physically dominant forward.
It is that physical side of his game that Higginbotham has had to tame to an extent, because in the past he has been known as a player not afraid of a little physical altercation during a game. A prime example of this is in 2012 when he received a two match suspension for headbutting and kneeing All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in the head.
While he is still very physical during a game, in his role as captain, Higgingbotham now steps back when there is a possibility for tempers to get heated. In an interview, Higginbotham acknowledged that “it’s a rough game, you sort of pull yourself back from a lot of stuff. Being captain you can’t keep getting involved in everything that goes on out on the field” (South China Morning Post, Mar 2014). It is his ability to step back, and effectively change who he is as a player, that has earnt Higginbotham a lot of respect as both a player and the captain of the Rebels.
Higginbotham’s increasingly impressive form as a player and as a captain has some people pegging him as a future captain of the Wallabies. I for one believe he would be a very strong Wallabies captain, but for his part, Higginbotham says it is a long way off and that his focus is on “trying to do [his] best captaining the Rebels and learn everything [he] can here” (South China Morning Post, Mar 2014). If he does eventually captain the Wallabies, I think he would be a very successful and much respected captain, which is what the Wallabies need!
So what does a man with such responsibility on the rugby field and as a senior member of the squad do to get away from it all? Anyone who follows him on various social media sites (particularly Instagram and Twitter) will be able to tell you that he enjoys surfing, that he has a love for the great outdoors and regularly goes to music festivals.
Another thing is also apparent… he is exceptionally proud of his trademark moustache. And why wouldn’t he be? It is a thing of manly beauty! If Ryan Crotty has the #beardofawesome, then I, being the world-wide authority on such matters, would go as far as to say Scott Higginbotham has the #moustacheofawesome.
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