The Fordham Company

Cameron Shepherd’s prodigious talents were always going to be ultimately recognised by Australia’s rugby selectors.

After a couple of seasons waiting in the wings, English-born Shepherd finally made his Test debut from the bench against England in Sydney in 2006.

Equally at home playing fullback or on the wing, he remained in the Wallabies 22 for the two internationals that followed against Ireland, crossing for his first Test five-pointer in the second of those matches.

The September 2006 Tri Nations Test against the Springboks at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park saw the awesomely-gifted utility player finally make his first appearance in the starting 15 as a winger.

Shepherd, 27, was one of the first players the then Western Force coach John Mitchell targeted for the Perth-based franchise’s debut in Super Rugby in 2006, having noted his versatility and promise during his two seasons with the NSW Waratahs.

Weeks into the 2012 season, Shepherd’s Super Rugby appearances exceed 80 and along the way he has accumulated more than 400 points from his try-scoring and goal-kicking.

Shepherd will always remain part of the Western Force’s history, having booted a sideline conversion against the Hurricanes in 2007 that clinched the team’s first home win at Perth’s Subiaco Oval.

Shepherd, who is contracted to the Western Force until the end of the 2012 season, has played nine Tests for Australia, a figure that would be immeasurably much higher had he not encountered a sequence of serious injuries.