Stephen Thomas Moore was born in Khamis, Saudi Arabia, on 20 January 1983. His parents were Irish and he spent his early life in Galwey before emigrating to Auatralia where he attended Brisbane Grammar School and then took a degree in science at the University of Queensland. He played at hooker for the Reds from 2003 to 2008 and joined the Brumbies in 2009. He first played for Australia in 2005 and by the start of the Rugby World Cup in 2011 had scored four tries in 60 tests. In 2009 he scored a try for Australia against the Barbarians in Sydney. Later that year he was a replacement for the Barbarians when they beat New Zealand at Twickenham. In 2010 he was in the starting XV when the Barbarians were again victorious at Twickenham against South Africa.