Find out which Rugby Union stars were born each day here at RUCK.
Johan Deysel
Position: Centre
DOB: 26/09/1991 (Age 24)
Current Club: Leopards
Honours: Namibia
Namibia’s Deysel celebrates his birthday just days after scoring the most memorable of tries for the Welwitschias against the All Blacks at the Olympic Stadium. New Zealand may have triumphed convincingly but when the centre bullied his was over to touch he had neutrals celebrating as fervently as him and his teammates.
Andy Haden
Position: Scrum-half
DOB: 26/09/1950 (Age 65)
Current Club: Retired
Previous Clubs: Auckland, Harlequins, Algida Rome
Honours: New Zealand
Haden played in 41 tests as well as 76 other games during his international career for the All Blacks, amassing a total of 117 appearances between 1972 and 1985. The scrum-half was a controversial player, who was accused of cheating and unsporting conduct by opposing players on numerous occasions. The most infamous occurrence of this happened in a match against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in 1978. The score was 12–10 in Wales’s favour, when Haden and another New Zealand player, Frank Oliver, suddenly fell to the ground as if pushed. The referee awarded a penalty in the dying moments of the match, which Brian McKechnie kicked, winning the game for New Zealand, 12-13.
Simone Picone
Position: Scrum-half
DOB: 26/09/1982 (Age 33)
Current Club: L’Aquila Rugby
Previous Clubs: Viterbo, Rugby Roma, Rugby Silea, Treviso
Honours: Italy
Italian scrum-half Picone made his debut for the Azzurri against Ireland during the Six Nations in 2004 and would go on to win 32 caps for his country. One of his final acts in the blue shirt of Italy before hanging up his international boots in 2010 was charging down a kick by England’s Danny Cipriani before touching down himself for what would be his only ever Test score.
Aurelien Rougerie
Position: Wing/Centre
DOB: 26/09/1980 (Age 35)
Current Club: Retired
Previous Clubs: Clermont
Honours: France
The former Les Bleus Captain was a powerful, fast, versatile back. He made his international debut in November 2001 against South Africa, scoring his first tries from the replacements’ bench against Fiji two weeks later. Rougerie, who played his entire club career at Clermont, amassed in total 76 caps for France, scoring 23 tries. He played in three Rugby World Cups in 2003, 2007 and finally 2011, where France were beaten narrowly in the final by New Zealand.