Rod Kafer

Position: Centre / Fly-half / Full-back
Nicknames: Dave (as in Rodney from Only Fools & Horses); Tugboat
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 98 kg
Appearances: 34 +1
Date of Birth: 25/06/1971
Honours: Australia (12); Aus. Schoolboys, Aus. U21s, AIS Aus. Barbarians
Test debut: 1999 V New Zealand

Rod Kafer, also known as "Dave" or "Tugboat", started playing rugby in his native Australia at around the age of 12. When aged 15 Rod developed diabetes and has since had to inject himself with insulin about 4 times a day. Married to Amanda with a one-year-old son, the former commodities trader apparently enjoys cooking low fat healthy meals. Although the diabetes gives him an excuse for eating something sweet.

Rod was born in New South Wales on the 25th June 1971 and went to school at Canberra Grammar. ACT through and through, he represented them at all junior levels and finally broke into the senior squad in 1991.

Rod is very much a utility back, earlier in his career he was apparently a "formidable full-back" as well as playing in the centre where Tigers supporters are more accustomed to seeing him.

Last season he played fly-half for Leicester on a couple of occasions. Memorably kicking a beautifully weighted and placed kick to Geordan Murphy for him to (eventually) score under the posts in the home game against Perpignan. Unfortunately his subsequent game in the number ten shirt whilst acting as captain against Leeds Tykes was not quite as successful - final score 37-16.

Rod's international debut was on the cards as far back as 1995 but it wasn't to be and just a few days before the game against the Kiwis he broke his ankle in a freak training ground accident. His bad luck with injuries continued but in 1999 Rod eventually got his first full cap against New Zealand.

His last year playing rugby in Australia was newsworthy for a couple of reasons. The most notable being the Brumbies victory in the prestigious Super 12 competition with a convincing win over Natal, just a year after losing in the final by a single point to Canterbury.

Rod set out to celebrate the win in style, allegedly trying to order an ambulance to pick him up outside a drinking establishment in the early hours of the morning because he was planning to get a little tipsy and being a diabetic he would be in a coma by then.

The Inside Centre left Australia under fairly controversial circumstances. Rod had been involved with the Official Australian Rugby Union Players Association since its inception in 1995, when he was elected into the executive committee. As an ACT stalwart he did not think that Brumbies players got the credit they deserved from the Australian Rugby Union and made his opinions known with the following statement:

"You would like to think that everyone would be treated equal, but in this farmyard some pigs are more equal than others"

The Chief Executive of the ARU showed his displeasure at Rod's comments saying they were "untrue" and "damaging" and accused him of breaching the players' code of conduct.

Since joining Tigers he has gained a tremendous amount of respect from his colleagues with players such as Ben Kay singing his praises at every opportunity. He has done an admirable job as a player/coach and the loss of the supporters' favourite Pat Howard has hardly been felt on the field.

Rod has played practically every game for Tigers this year and although he lacks the killer side-step of his fellow Aussie he has been just as successful on the playing and training fields. When talking to the Leicester Mercury about his first year at Tigers he said:

"It's gone very well. The team has performed pretty well and I have been reasonably happy with my form. The good thing is that the rugby has been very enjoyable. It is a good side to play for, we have a lot of fun on the pitch, it's very competitive, so from that point of view it has been easy"

Rod appears to be impressed with his new club:

"the standards set by the team are second to none. And the work and training ethic over here far exceeds anything I've ever seen anywhere else in the world, and that includes my involvement with both the Wallabies and the Brumbies" (Rugby World 2001).

Let's hope his next season is as successful as his last!

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