Cameron Bernard Shepherd

Cameron Shepherd was a talented winger / fullback whose professional rugby career was plagued by injury.

Born in Windsor, England but educated and raised in Sydney’s north, Shepherd was a star schoolboy athlete at Barker College. In his final year he played 1st V basketball, and was captain of both the Athletics Team and the 1st XV.

In 2003, Shepherd was selected for Australian U21s and a year later he made his debut for New South Wales for whom he scored 10 tries from 22 games over two seasons. At the end of that second season he signed a three-year deal with the Western Force and was picked on the Wallaby Spring Tour of Europe.

2006 proved to be Shepherd’s breakthrough year as he debuted for the Force in their inaugural match against the ACT Brumbies, represented Australia in Men’s 7s at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and made his Test debut against England in Sydney.

In 2007 a knee injury looked to have cruelled his chance of attending a first Rugby World Cup however he was called into the squad after Mark Gerrard ruptured a medial ligament in his knee late in the pool match victory over Japan.

Cameron Shepherd played nine Tests for Australia in a three year international career.

Highlights

2003

Selected in the Australian squad for the second-annual IRB U21 Rugby World Championships in England.

2004

Selected in the Australian squad for the third-annual IRB U21 Rugby World Championships in Scotland.

2005

Selected in the Australian squad for the fourth-annual IRB U21 Rugby World Championships in Argentina.

2006

Shepherd won his first Test cap off the bench when he replaced Mat Rogers at inside centre (then switched with Lote Tuqiri to the left wing) in the 1st Test, 34-3 win over England in Sydney. Two weeks later he scored his first Test try from a delightful set piece play against Ireland in Perth. Shepherd then made his run-on XV debut on the left wing in the 3rd Test, 16-24 loss to South Africa in Johannesburg. Shepherd won a total of five Test caps for the year.

2007

Shepherd missed the entire domestic Test season after he damaged his posterior cruciate ligament against the Brumbies during the Super Rugby tournament. He earned a late call up to the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup Squad to replace the injured Mark Gerrard.

2008

Shepherd started the opening two Tests of 2008 at fullback but in the third, the 40-10 victory over France in Brisbane, he suffered a broken leg that saw him miss the rest of the international season.