Ian Rubin is an Australian former
rugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer of the 1990s. He played the majority of his professional career for both the Sydney clubs in the
National Rugby LeagueThe National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
the
Sydney RoostersThe Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
and the
South Sydney RabbitohsThe South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
. His position of choice was in the forwards playing usually at
PropA rugby league football team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Players are divided into two general categories: "forwards" and "backs"....
.
He also played on several occasions for his adopted country of Russia including four appearances as captain of the
Russian national side-2008 World Cup Qualifying:In 2006 Russia were involved in Europe Round One, defeating Netherlands national rugby league team and Serbia national rugby league team to finish second and keep their World Cup dream alive. They then went through to Europe Round Two in Europe Pool Two with Ireland and...
at the
2000 World CupThe 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held during October and November of that year in Great Britain, Ireland and France...
after qualifying to play for them via the grandparent rule.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Rubin is Jewish. After his family
emigrateEmigrate is a heavy metal band based in New York, led by Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead guitarist of the German band Rammstein.-History:Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording...
d to Australia in his teens settling in Sydney, Rubin took up
rugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
while at school where he was eventually spotted by Rabbitohs scouts in the early 1990s. Rubin then signed his first professional contract for the
South Sydney RabbitohsThe South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
for the beginning of the 1996 season where he quickly began playing in the first team side for the Sydney club usually playing as an impact prop-forward off the bench.
Rubin eventually made his name as a workhorse forward and over the next three years would go on to make forty-five appearances for the South Sydney side.
Sydney Roosters
Rubin signed for cross-town rivals the
Sydney RoostersThe Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
for the beginning of the
2000 seasonThe 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League...
where he would put together an impressive string of performances for his new club quickly cementing his place as a starting prop-forward and appearing in that year's Grand Final. Shortly after he travelled to England to captain Russia in their 2000 World Cup campaign.
Altogether Rubin would only play two seasons for the Roosters but appeared in close to every fixture and captained the club on the odd occasion.
Russia
Rubin was originally enquired about by Russian management during 1998 as to where his heritage lay and whether or not he would be able to represent
Russia-2008 World Cup Qualifying:In 2006 Russia were involved in Europe Round One, defeating Netherlands national rugby league team and Serbia national rugby league team to finish second and keep their World Cup dream alive. They then went through to Europe Round Two in Europe Pool Two with Ireland and...
for their World Cup qualifying fixtures in their bid to gain entry for the
2000 competitionThe 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held during October and November of that year in Great Britain, Ireland and France...
.
Although Rubin was born in
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, both of his grandparents had originally come from Russia which meant Rubin was allowed to represent the Russian national side. From 1998 onwards he would help his adopted country to qualify for the
Rugby League World CupThe Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
and then take part in their campaign as
captainIn team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
but ultimately they had a disappointing tournament, failing to win a match against superior competition in Australia,
EnglandThe England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...
and
Fiji-Competitions:Fiji have participated in:*Pacific Cup *World Cup *World Sevens *Superleague World Nines *Superleague Oceania Tournament *Pacific Rim Competition -Results:...
.
Trivia
- Suffered minor burns to his arm while once appearing on the Footy Show, while making his entrance to the show via a tunnel some fireworks malfunctioned and subsequently burnt him.
- Captained the Russia national rugby league team
-2008 World Cup Qualifying:In 2006 Russia were involved in Europe Round One, defeating Netherlands national rugby league team and Serbia national rugby league team to finish second and keep their World Cup dream alive. They then went through to Europe Round Two in Europe Pool Two with Ireland and...
during their first World CupThe Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
campaign, although they failed to win a match during the tournament.
- Is of Jewish heritage.
External links