| Dallas O'Neill | |||||||||||||||
| Full Name: | Dallas John O'Neill | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 9 March 1943 | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Queensland, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Ru Position: | No. 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Repyears1: | 1964 | ||||||||||||||
| Repcaps1: | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Reppoints1: | 0 | ||||||||||||||
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Dallas John O'Neill (born 9 March 1943) is an Australian former rugby union international who represented Australia in two Test matches. He also played rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
O'Neill, raised in Mackay, Queensland, was educated at St Joseph's College, Nudgee as a boarder. He made his first Queensland representative appearance at the age of 19, only weeks after he had debuted in first-grade for Brothers.[1]
A number eight, O'Neill had early international experience as a Wallabies reserve on the 1962 tour of New Zealand, playing five uncapped matches. He was set to receive his first cap on the following year's tour of South Africa, but had to withdraw from the 1st Test team with a groin injury, which sidelined him for the remainder of the series.[2] On his return to New Zealand for the 1964 tour, O'Neill made his Test debut at Carisbrook and gained a second cap at Lancaster Park.[3]
O'Neill was signed by rugby league club South Sydney in 1967, along with Wallabies teammate Bob Honan. His code switch was not as successful as Honan's, due to limited opportunities in first-grade. He was hampered by a cruciate ligament injury in his first few seasons and spent much of his time in the reserves grade.[4]