Joshua James Valentine

Josh Valentine was yet another in the long line of Wallaby halfbacks to come from the Hunter region of New South Wales.

Valentine played junior rugby with the Singleton Bulls and from there won selection for both Newcastle and Country representative teams from U14s through to U16s. From Singleton High School’s 1st XV, Valentine was picked in the 2000 Australian Schools team alongside future Wallaby captain Rocky Elsom.

In 2001, Valentine moved to the northern beaches of Sydney where he attended Narrabeen Sports’ High School. For a second year running he achieved the distinction of playing for Australian Schools and captained the team in the Test against England Schools. He was then signed by the Queensland Reds and made his Super Rugby debut against the ACT Brumbies in 2003.

Valentine won selection for his first Wallaby tour in 2005 however he had to wait until the following season to earn a Test debut, against England in Sydney. He signed with the Waratahs in 2007, played for the Western Force in 2009 and then had two seasons with the ACT Brumbies.

Josh Valentine played a total of six Tests for Australia, each as a replacement, in his four year international rugby career.

Highlights

2000
Represented Australian Schools against Irish Schools and New Zealand Schools.

2001
Valentine captained Australian Schools against England Schools. He also won selection against Samoan Schools and on the team’s end of season tour to Japan, the U.K. and Ireland.

2001/02
Represented Australia in the IRB Sevens World Series.

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.

2006
Valentine won his first Test cap off the bench when he replaced George Gregan in the 1st Test, 34-3 victory over England in Sydney. He was named in the squad for the end-of-season Spring Tour and won caps against Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

2009
Valentine returned to the national squad behind Luke Burgess and earned the final two caps of his career against Italy in Melbourne and France in Sydney.