Paul William Cornish

Born and bred in Canberra, Paul Cornish was a talented centre who enjoyed one season of international rugby. Educated at Hawker College, Cornish played for the Canberra Royals from where he made his ACT debut against Fiji in 1985. His consistent performances at provincial level earned him selection on the 1998 Wallaby tour to the U.K. and Europe but did not play in any of the Tests.

In 1990, Tim Horan suffered a second-degree medial ligament injury in the 1st Test against France which saw Cornish called in to make his Test debut two weeks later in Brisbane. Cornish then earned a spot in the Australian squad for the tour to New Zealand and played in five matches, including the 1st Test at Lancaster Park.

In 1991 his rugby career came to an unfortunate end when he broke his neck playing for Australia ‘B’ against New Zealand ‘B’ at Ballymore.

Highlights

1986

Represented Australian U21s against the Australian Barbarians and was in the match day squad for the ‘Test’ against New Zealand U21s.

1990

Cornish won his first Test cap as the starting inside centre in the 2nd Test, 48-31 win over France in Brisbane. He scored his first Test try in that match to become the 68th Wallaby to score a try on debut. Six days later Cornish retained his spot for the 28-19, 3rd Test win in Sydney. He earned his third and final cap at No.12 in the 1st Test, 6-21 loss to New Zealand in Christchurch.