Sam Johnson (rugby union)
{{Short description|Scotland international rugby union & league player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
| name = Sam Johnson
| image = Sam Johnson 2020 Six Nations.jpg
| caption = Johnson in 2020
| birth_name = Sam Johnson
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1993|06|19|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Dysart, Queensland, Australia
| nickname =
| height = {{height|m=1.85}}
| weight = {{convert|95|kg|lb stlb|abbr=on}}
| position = Back Row / Centre
| year1start =
| club1 = Tweed Heads
| club2 = Gold Coast Titans U20
| appearances1 =
| points1 =
| module = {{infobox rugby biography | embed = yes
| ru_position = Centre
| repyears1 = 2019–22 | repteam1 = Scotland
| repcaps1 = 27 | reppoints1 = 30
| repyears2 = 2023 | repteam2 = Barbarians
| repcaps2 = 1 | reppoints2 = 5
| years1 = 2015–23 | clubs1 = Glasgow Warriors
| apps1 = 104 | points1 = 50
| years2 = 2023- | clubs2 = Brive
| apps2 = 13 | points2 = 10
| ru_clubupdate = 11 March 2024
| amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = GPS
| amatyears2 = 2015–17 | amatteam2 = Stirling County
| amatyears3 = 2017–18 | amatteam3 = Ayr
| amatyears4 = 2018–19 | amatteam4 = Glasgow Hawks
| ru_amupdate =
| provinceyears1 = 2014–15 | province1 = Queensland Country
| provinceapps1 = 5 | provincepoints1 =
| superyears1 = 2013–15 | super1 = Queensland Reds
| superapps1 = 2 | superpoints1 =
}}
}}
Sam Johnson (born 19 June 1993) is a rugby union player who plays for Brive in France. A centre, Johnson represented Scotland at international level, although born and raised in Australia. He previously played for Glasgow Warriors and is a centurion for the club.
Rugby union career
=Amateur career=
Johnson first made a name for himself at schoolboy level, representing Queensland Schoolboys and Australia Schoolboys A after winning the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) competition with St Edmund's College in 2011. His first rugby union club was GPS in Brisbane. He was then to switch codes to Rugby League.{{cn|date=July 2025}}
On moving to Scotland, he played for Stirling County when not in use by Glasgow Warriors.{{Cite web|url=http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/16/09/29/scotland-centurion-sean-lamont-bt-premiership-action|title = News}}
Johnson was drafted to Ayr in the Scottish Premiership for the 2017-18 season.{{Cite web|url=http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/17/08/28/warriors-find-out-pro-draft-destinations|title = News}}
Johnson has been drafted to Glasgow Hawks in the Scottish Premiership for the 2018-19 season.{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishrugby.org/news/18/08/21/tennent%E2%80%99s-premiership-clubs-decide-pro-player-draft |title=Tennent's Premiership clubs decide pro-player draft {{!}} Scottish Rugby Union |website=www.scottishrugby.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902115759/http://www.scottishrugby.org/news/18/08/21/tennent%E2%80%99s-premiership-clubs-decide-pro-player-draft |archive-date=2018-09-02}}
=Professional career=
Johnson returned to rugby union for the 2013–14 season, when he joined the Queensland Reds wider training squad, and returned to his former club GPS.{{cn|date=July 2025}}
Johnson impressed the Queensland Reds coaching staff in 2014 as a regular in the midfield for Reds A and GPS, which led to him making his Queensland Reds debut off the bench against the Western Force in Perth.
Johnson then went on to play five matches for Queensland Country in Australia's National Rugby Championship in the season 2014–15.
Johnson made two Super Rugby appearances for the Reds in total and was named on the bench a further three times.
On 28 April 2015, it was announced that Johnson would be joining the Pro12 champions Glasgow Warriors in an initial contract to May 2017.
Johnson became Warrior No. 258 on his competitive debut against Ospreys on 1 November 2015. He won Glasgow Warriors Players' Player of the Season, together with Ruaridh Jackson in 2017-18, and was Glasgow's Test Player of the Season in 2018-19. He won Glasgow's try of the season also in the 2018-19 season in Glasgow's crushing of Leinster, away from home at the RDS Arena, by scoring the first Glasgow try in a 39-24 win. He won Player of the Match in October 2021 in a victory over the Sharks at Scotstoun Stadium. He captained Glasgow in their match against Benetton in November 2021. He was Glasgow's Player of the Month for February 2023.
He left Glasgow at the end of the 2022-23 season. He had amassed 104 caps for the Warriors, starting 95 of those matches. He scored 10 tries for the club.{{cite web | url=https://www.glasgowwarriors.com/articles/player/008750.php?player=Sam+Johnson&c=2015%2F2016+2016%2F2017+2017%2F2018+2018%2F2019+2019%2F2020+2020%2F2021+2021%2F2022+2022%2F2023&stats=career | title=Glasgow Warriors | Sam Johnson }}
In the summer of 2023, it was announced that he had signed for Brive.{{cite web | url=https://www.allezbriverugby.com/news/transfert-sam-johnson-est-suivi-par-brive-02-06-2023/ | title=Transfert : Sam Johnson est suivi par Brive }}
=International career=
In October 2018, after qualifying to play for Scotland on residency grounds, he was called up to the senior squad for the Autumn Internationals.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/45888967 |title=Scotland: Blade Thomson, Sam Skinner and Sam Johnson in Autumn Tests squad |publisher=BBC |date=17 October 2018 |accessdate=18 October 2018}} He was then named in the squad for the 2019 Six Nations tournament{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishrugby.org/news/19/01/15/seven-uncapped-scots-named-2019-guinness-six-nations-squad |title=Seven uncapped Scots named in 2019 Guinness Six Nations squad |publisher=Scottish Rugby |date=15 January 2019 |accessdate=2 February 2019}} and started in the opening game, a 33–20 win against Italy, to claim his first cap. He scored his first international try in the 13-22 loss to Ireland the next week.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47151078 |title=Six Nations: Ireland defeat Scotland 22-13 at Murrayfield to get off the mark |publisher=BBC
|date=9 February 2019 |accessdate=9 February 2019}}
Rugby league career
Johnson played Rugby League for the Gold Coast Titans under-20s after school. His favoured position in rugby league was as a forward in the back row but he was often played at as a back at centre instead and was tagged a utility player. He sometimes played for the Gold Coast Titans' feeder club Tweed Heads Seagulls in New South Wales at this time.{{cn|date=July 2025}}
References
External links
- [http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/15/04/28/johnson-and-peterson-signings-secured|Glasgow Warriors sign Johnson]
- [http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/latest/glasgow-warriors-sign-sam-johnson-greg-peterson-1-3757390|Glasgow Warriors sign Sam Johnson & Greg Peterson]
{{Scotland Squad 2019 Rugby World Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Sam}}
Category:Australian rugby union players
Category:Queensland Reds players
Category:Queensland Country (NRC team) players
Category:Glasgow Warriors players
Category:Australian expatriate rugby union players in Scotland
Category:Stirling County RFC players
Category:Glasgow Hawks players
Category:Scotland international rugby union players
Category:Scottish rugby union players
Category:Rugby league players from Queensland
Category:Rugby union players from Queensland
Category:People from Central Queensland
Category:Barbarian F.C. players
Category:2019 Rugby World Cup players
Category:People educated at St Edmund's College, Ipswich