subsequently named in John Connolly's Wallaby squad. Later that season he injured his shoulder and underwent reconstruction surgery in November 2006. Although missing most of the 2007 Super 14 season through injury recovery, Vickerman returned to the Test scene in a test match against Wales coming off the bench, and cemented his place back in the Wallaby starting line up for the Wallabies 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. Vickerman raised his 50th Test cap against Wales during the 2007 World Cup, but managed just three appearances during the 2008 international because of another shoulder injury he sustained in the 2008 Super 14 final. In the autumn of 2008 Vickerman left Australia for England to study at Cambridge University, where he read Land Economy for three years. He played for Cambridge in the 2008 Varsity Match. The following year, he combined his studies with a renewed professional career at Northampton Saints. He signed a one-year deal in May 2009 to play with Northampton in the Guinness Premiership for the 2009–10 season, but arranged to delay his arrival with the team until after the 2009 Varsity Match in December, in which he captained Cambridge to a 31–27 victory over eternal rival Oxford. His first match for the Saints was against Sale Sharks on 7 March 2010. Vickerman returned to Australia in 2011 to play again for the Waratahs and press his claims for national selection. He was chosen in the Wallabies team which won the 2011 Tri Nations Series and claimed third place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. A persistent injury problem with stress fractures in the tibia of his right leg forced his retirement from the game in 2012. He worked for the Rugby Union Players' Association after his retirement. Death Vickerman died on the night of 18 February 2017 at his Sydney home, at the age of 37. The cause of death was confirmed as suicide. He was survived by his wife and two young children. Reference list External links ESPN Stats – Dan Vickerman Test matches 2007 RWC profile 2003 RWC profile 1979 births 2017 suicides Alumni of Hughes Hall, Cambridge Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England ACT Brumbies players Northampton Saints players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players New South Wales Waratahs players Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town Rugby union locks South African emigrants to Australia South African rugby union