Connor Vest
| Born | 26 April 1994 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 195 cm (6 ft 5 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 kg (254 lb; 18 st 2 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Grafton High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connor Vest (born 26 April 1994)[2] is an Australian rugby union player. Vest plays for the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby primarily as a lock, and secondarily as across the back row.
Career
[edit]Vest was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales on the outskirts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).[1][3] He was educated at Grafton High School in Northern New South Wales where he played junior rugby for the Grafton Rugby Club.[3] In 2014 Vest was selected in the Waratahs under-20s team.[4]
After playing club rugby in Sydney's Shute Shield, Vest joined the North Harbour Rays (later known as Sydney Rays) in the National Rugby Championship (NRC),[5] being announced in their 32-player squad for 2017.[6] Vest had trained with the squad ahead of the 2016 season but was not selected.[7] Vest played three seasons with the Rays alongside club rugby in the Shute Shield before disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic ended the NRC.
Reds
[edit]Vest was named in the Queensland Reds' 23-man team sheet in March 2022 ahead of their fourth round fixture against the Fijian Drua in the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season.[8] Vest played in ten matches throughout his debut season, scoring one try in the process.[9] Following his first season with the Reds, Vest signed with Auckland in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship (NPC).[10] He played in eight games, starting in four of them, all in the lock position.[9]
Neck injury
[edit]In Round 14 of the 2023 Super Rugby season, Vest suffered a severe neck injury while playing against the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.[11][12] Vest, whom had the ball, ran head-first into opposing player Shannon Frizell, whom was trying to tackle.[13] He received a protocol head-injury assessment (HIA) by his teams medics during a pause of play. Vest failed to pass the HIA,[13] and less than two hours later was in hospital where it was revealed he had suffered a cervical fracture of the C7 vertebrae; also known as a broken neck.[13] Vest's teammate Harry Wilson was critical of referee Brendon Pickerill's actions during the incident, and stated post-match: "...as a playing group we were very frustrated with the referee trying to rush him off the field. We thought that was pretty disrespectful for a player who has just broken his neck, trying to rush him off the field as if he's wasting time."[14] The Super Rugby replied in a statement: "The comments attributed to Harry Wilson of the Reds in the media are factually incorrect and whilst they may have been well intending in support of a teammate, he has been issued with a reminder that care must be taken with public comments not to impair the public confidence in the integrity of match officials."[14]
Return from injury
[edit]Vest mad his return to the squad by Round 10 of the following season (2024).[9] He made most of his impact from the bench, and played six matches for the Reds overall.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Tucker, Jim (29 June 2022). "Ryan Smith, Connor Vest and Lopeti Faifua re-sign with Queensland Rugby". reds.rugby. Queensland Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 16 March 2025.
- ^ "Connor Vest | Ultimate Rugby". Ultimate Rugby. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ a b Tucker, Jim (13 October 2023). "Cormac Daly signs; Connor Vest re-signs with Queensland Reds". reds.rugby. Queensland Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 16 March 2025.
- ^ "Connor Vest: Sydney Rays". raysrugby.com.au. Sydney Rays. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017.
- ^ "Connor Vest – Player Statistics – It's Rugby". ItsRugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025.
- ^ Rea, Scott (31 August 2017). "NRC 2017: Sydney Rays Season Preview". Green and Gold Rugby. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018.
- ^ North, Bill (11 August 2016). "Surprise of his life crowning moment for Connor Vest". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp Australia.
- ^ "Queensland Reds make three changes to starting XV to face Drua". reds.rugby (Press release). Queensland Rugby Union. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Connor Vest: Stats – All Rugby". all.rugby. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024.
- ^ Tucker, Jim (13 January 2023). "Vest reflects on milestone 2022". reds.rugby. Queensland Rugby Union.
- ^ Chapman, Simon (30 May 2023). "'Pretty ridiculous': Queensland Reds players furious over inaction after teammate breaks neck". Nine.com.au. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024.
- ^ Smith, Wayne (30 May 2023). "Reds livid over referee after Vest's broken neck". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024.
- ^ a b c "Vest finds way out of 'long tunnel' after broken neck". Rugby.com.au. 8 December 2023.
- ^ a b Worthington, Sam (31 May 2023). "Super Rugby Pacific issues terse response to 'disrespectful' Harry Wilson claims". Nine.com.au. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 29 May 2024.
External links
[edit]- Connor Vest at ItsRugby.co.uk
.svg){kind=small}   | This biographical article relating to Australian rugby union, about a person born in the 1990s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |