{"id":549736,"date":"2026-03-19T03:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T03:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/549736\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T03:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T03:44:09","slug":"slipper-to-break-super-rugby-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/549736\/","title":{"rendered":"Slipper to break Super Rugby record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Then-ACT Brumbies<\/a> coach Dan McKellar sat down with Queensland Reds<\/a> veteran James Slipper<\/a> at the Canberra Centre food court in 2018, pitching two reasons why the prop should make the move to the capital.<\/p>\n

Rugby Australia<\/a> would later confirm in September that year that Slipper had put pen to paper on a deal with the Brumbies ahead of the 2019 Super Rugby season. It\u2019s a decision that has worked out \u201cpretty well for Slips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slipper will become the all-time leader in Super Rugby appearances on Saturday, set to break the long-standing record held by Wyatt Crockett. Crockett played 202 games for the Crusaders, but Slipper will go one clear when the Brumbies host the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Coach Stephen Larkham<\/a> didn\u2019t select Slipper in the matchday 23 to face the Fijian Drua<\/a> last time out in Ba, meaning the 36-year-old prop would instead make Super Rugby history in front of the Brumbies\u2019 home fans at GIO Stadium.<\/p>\n

While McKellar\u2019s current side the NSW Waratahs<\/a> are preparing for their own match against the Blues<\/a> in Sydney, the coach spoke briefly about the 2018 sit down chat with Slipper before praising the history-maker for another remarkable achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to sell him two things: he\u2019d enjoy Canberra and him and Scott Sio<\/a> could play in the same team together\u2026 as it turns out, it\u2019s worked out pretty well for Slips,\u201d McKellar told reporters in Sydney this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a good bloke. Loved being in his company. What I\u2019ve seen him put his body through over the years and front up week on week on week on week, my respect and admiration for him is through the roof.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally pleased. Wyatt\u2019s held that record for a long time and hopefully Slips does the same. He\u2019s not only playing his 203rd Super Rugby game, he\u2019s played over 150 Test matches but he continues to play very, very well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like every week there\u2019s a James Slipper milestone and I sent him that message but it\u2019s nice for him to get the recognition that he probably doesn\u2019t love but he certainly deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKellar served as an assistant under Larkham at the Brumbies before taking over as the head coach ahead of the 2018 season. Years later, McKellar left Australia\u2019s shores to take up a deal with Leicester<\/a> Tigers in England, opening the door for Larkham\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

While McKellar helped the Brumbies secure a Super Rugby AU title, Larkham has helped the team remain consistent as a Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> powerhouse. The Brumbies beat the Crusaders<\/a> in Christchurch and the Blues in Canberra earlier this season, before losing their next two.<\/p>\n

Larkham has named Slipper in the starting side to face the Chiefs<\/a> on Saturday, set to pack down alongside Billy Pollard<\/a> and Darcy Breen. This is the latest in a series of milestones for the Super Rugby veteran, with Larkham joking, \u201cIt just keeps going with Slips.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA special achievement for anyone to get to 100, to get to 150, to get to 200 and now to have the record in Super Rugby,\u201d Larkham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a pretty special human, offers a lot to the Brumbies, both on the field, off the field. One of the best leaders that you will find in the game and we\u2019re lucky to have him and it\u2019ll be a very special moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Then-ACT Brumbies coach Dan McKellar sat down with Queensland Reds veteran James Slipper at the Canberra Centre food…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-549736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}