James Elliott Hanson

James 'Chibba' Hanson, an uncompromising hooker from Queensland, boasted strong family links to the Wallabies. Both his uncle Tony Parker (Wallaby #635) and cousin Brendan Cannon (Wallaby #769) represented Australia in international rugby.

A schools and aged representative Hanson served an extensive apprenticeship before he won national honours. In 2009, Hanson looked to further his rugby ‘education’ when he played for North Harbour in New Zealand’s NPC where one his team-mates was fellow future Wallaby Mike Harris. He then made his Queensland Reds debut in 2010, from the bench, during what was a startling 41-20 Super Rugby win over the Crusaders. Although he gained only two starts during the Reds’ run to their maiden Super Rugby title in 2011, the University of Queensland hooker was one of just six players who featured in every game of that campaign.

Hanson played his maiden Test in 2012 when Saia Fainga’a broke a bone in his hand at training in the lead-up to the year’s final Bledisloe Cup contest. His presence on the field that night saw him matched up against a player at the other end of the career scale: All Black hooker Keven Mealamu, who became just the third New Zealander to play 100 Tests.

Overlooked in 2013, Hanson made his return to the Wallabies for the 2014 Rugby Championship and the Spring Tour. In 2015, Hanson featured in Australia’s World Cup warm-up match against the USA before he was a late inclusion into the Rugby World Cup squad after an injury to Wycliff Palu.

Hanson moved to the Melbourne Rebels in 2016 however at the end of 2017 he signed a short-term deal that then became a permanent contract with U.K. premiership side Gloucester. 

Highlights

2005

Represented Australian Schools against Samoan U18s, New Zealand Schools, England U17s, England U18s and Wales U18s. 

2006

Selected in the Australian squad which won the third-annual IRB U19s Junior World Championship title in the United Arab Emirates. 

2007

Selected in the Australian squad for the fourth-annual IRB U19s Junior World Championships in Ireland.

2008

Selected in the Australian squad for the inaugural IRB U20s Junior World Championship title in Wales.

2012

Hanson won his first Test cap off the bench when he replaced Tatafu Polota-Nau in the 18-all draw with New Zealand at ANZ Stadium. 

2014

Added to the Wallaby squad following the season-ending knee injury to skipper Stephen Moore, Hanson won a total of eight caps which included his first in a run-on XV, the 1st Test, 24-23 victory over South Africa in Perth. 

2015

He won a single Test cap in the 47-10 win over the U.S.A in Chicago. Hanson was called into the Rugby World Cup squad following a hamstring injury to Wycliff Palu but was not used during the tournament.   

2016

Hanson won two Test caps in 2016, against Argentina at Twickenham and against New Zealand in Auckland. He was selected for the end-of-season Spring Tour but went under the knife after he broke his jaw ahead of the test against Wales.