Alex Toolis

Alex Toolis (born 31 March 1992) is a retired Australian rugby union player. His twin brother, Ben, played international rugby for Scotland.

Alex Toolis
Birth nameAlexander William Toolis
Date of birth (1992-03-31) 31 March 1992
Place of birthBrisbane, Australia
Height2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight117 kg (18 st 6 lb)
SchoolMarist College Ashgrove
Notable relative(s)Ben Toolis (twin brother)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–13 GPS Old Boys ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013–2016
2014
2015
2016–2018
2018–2019
2019–2020
2020–2021		 Edinburgh Rugby
→ London Irish
→ Glasgow Warriors
Melbourne Rebels
Kurita Water Gush
London Scottish
Blagnac		 27
1
1
11
7
12
4		 (10)
(0)
(0)
(5)
(0)
(5)
(0)
Correct as of 31 May 2022

Early life

Toolis was born in Brisbane, Australia.[1]

Rugby career

Toolis arrived in Edinburgh, August 2013 after competing in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition playing for GPS Old Boys, where he helped GPS reach consecutive Premier Grade finals. He was also in the ARU's National Academy where he played in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup with his twin brother, Ben. He was also selected to play for the Queensland 'A' side in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

In November 2013, both twins were signed by London Irish on a short-term loan from Edinburgh Rugby. Toolis made his debut on 17 November 2013 against the Northampton Saints at Madjeski Stadium in London, where he started in the second row with his brother. This was the first time that London Irish had a pair of twins starting at the lock position.[2]

He played one match on loan with Glasgow Warriors against Munster during their Pro12 title-winning 2014–15 season.

He played alongside Ben in the second row for the first time for Edinburgh in the away win over Benetton in September 2015. They were the first brothers to do so since Tim and Sep Visser in 2012, and the first set of twins to do so for the club in the professional era. They were the first twins to start a match together for the home side in Scotland in the professional era, in January 2016 win over SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne.

Toolis signed a two-year deal for the Rebels to return to Australia for the 2017 Super Rugby season; however, he received a serious neck injury which ruled him out for a year.

Alex was forced to retire through several repeated injuries.

In Dec 2021 Alex took up the role of Academy and Performance Manager at Boroughmuir Rugby Club, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he is responsible for driving, developing and delivery of a rugby performance programme to support youth development from Micros (Under-5s) through to Colts (U18s) and their transition to senior rugby, with an emphasis on players achieving their best, whether at club, region or national levels.[3] In his first season the Boroughmuir U18s went on to win the Scottish National Club Cup [4] and two of the squad, Jerry Blyth-Lafferty and Liam McConnell played for the Scotland U18s Team, with Liam also being selected as Captain,[5] a strong start to a new career in club rugby player development.

References
  1. "Alex Toolis". edinburghrugby.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. "London Irish sign Alex Toolis on short-term loan from Edinburgh".
  3. "Boroughmuir Academy appoint Alex Toolis as new Academy and Performance Manager".
  4. "U18 Boys National Youth Cup Final: last minute try snatches glory for Boroughmuir over West of Scotland".
  5. "SCOTLAND U18 MEN'S SIDE NAMED FOR UNDER-18 SIX NATIONS FESTIVAL".
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