Greg Somerville
| File:Greg Somerville 2011 (cropped).jpg Somerville in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Greg Mardon Somerville 28 November 1977 Wairoa, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 kg (18 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Professional rugby player | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Greg Mardon Somerville is a New Zealand rugby union player. He is a former All Black and a specialised tighthead prop who can also play loosehead. Somerville made his All Black debut in 2000 against Tonga, a match in which the All Blacks won 102–0. Somerville went 41 test matches before scoring his first, and only test try against Fiji in 2005. Somerville played domestic rugby for Canterbury Rugby Football Union and for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition, having played 100 matches for the latter after debuting against the Chiefs in 1999. Somerville's nickname is Yoda, after the fictional character from Star Wars due to their resemblance.[1]
Somerville left New Zealand in late 2008, having signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Guinness Premiership team Gloucester. In 2010 he left Gloucester for the Melbourne Rebels, with whom he spent the 2011 season before retiring.
Somerville's sporting hero is Buck Shelford, who, he says, "was a tremendous leader for the All Blacks and an outstanding front-rower."[2]
Other
[edit | edit source]- Played 42 matches for New Zealand before scoring his first try against Fiji in 2005. This was an All Blacks record at the time for the most matches before scoring a point.
- Played in six RWC 2003 matches.
- Played a leadership role for the Melbourne Rebels in the 2011 Super Rugby season.[3][4][5][6][7]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Quoted in "My Hero" 2008, p. 35.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Sources
[edit | edit source]- SA Sports Illustrated. "My Hero: Four All Black rugby players reveal their sport heroes." October 2008: 35.
External links
[edit | edit source]- Greg Somerville at the All Blacks (archived)
- 1977 births
- New Zealand international rugby union players
- Canterbury rugby union players
- Crusaders (rugby union) players
- Living people
- New Zealand rugby union players
- Rugby union props
- Melbourne Rebels players
- People from Wairoa
- Gloucester Rugby players
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England
- New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Australia
- Rugby union players from Hawke's Bay
- 2003 Rugby World Cup players
- 2007 Rugby World Cup players
- 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen