Brad Weber
Brad McCormick Weber (born 17 January 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a halfback for Hawke's Bay in the Mitre 10 Cup and the Chiefs in Super Rugby.[1][2]
| Full name | Brad McCormick Weber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 17 January 1991 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Napier, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb; 11 st 11 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Napier Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
Brother of Napier Marist rugby player Sam Weber. Neil Weber is also his Father, a forestry logistics legend based in Tauranga. Brad attended St Patrick's school in Napier before moving to Napier Boys’ High School.
Career
After moving to Dunedin he joined the Dunedin Rugby Football Club (Inc) 'The Sharks' Established in 1871 playing firstly for the Premier Colts side in 2010 and then the Senior Premier side in 2011. He was in the Hawkes Bay ITM side in that year. He played for Dunedin in 2012 and was in the Senior Premier side that were runners up for the Premier Banner. In 2013 the Dunedin Premier side won the Premier 1 Dunedin Metropolitan Club Championship and the club named him Speight's Premier Player of the year. Weber has still referenced his playing days with the 'Sharks' with a 'Fins Up' salute after he has scored for his current team. [3]
Weber started his senior career playing for the Otago Razorbacks whilst studying for an applied science degree at Otago University. He made nine appearances during the 2012 ITM Cup, but could not dislodge Fumiaki Tanaka as first choice half-back.
2013 did not start well for him as rising-star Josh Renton was named ahead of him in the Dunedin teams ITM Cup squad and he began to focus more on school than rugby. However, a month into the season he received a call from Waikato coach Johnny Walters who wanted to take him north to provide more competition for halfbacks Mick Snowden and Kylem O'Donnell.[4] His switch was more successful than he could have imagined as a series of good performances saw him named in the Chiefs wider training group ahead for the 2014 Super Rugby season.[2] Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Augustine Pulu were selected as the defending champions first-choice halfbacks, however, an injury to Kerr-Barlow prior to the season opener against the Crusaders opened the door for Weber, who made his Super Rugby debut as a second-half substitute in an 18-10 win for the Chiefs.[5]
Weber was named captain of the Waikato ITM Cup squad for the 2014 ITM Cup season.[6] and co-captain with Whetu Douglas for the 2015 ITM Cup season.[7]
At the end of the 2015 ITM Cup season, after scoring a second half hat trick in the final match against Hawke's Bay to win the Ranfurly Shield for Waikato, it was announced that Weber had signed a contract to return to Napier to play for Hawke's Bay for the 2016 ITM Cup season.[8]
International career
Weber was a member of the New Zealand Under 20 side which won the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy. He largely served as back up to TJ Perenara during the competition.[9]
Weber made his All Blacks debut against Samoa on 8 July 2015.[10]
On October 2, 2019, during the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, Weber scored his first international try in a pool match against Canada. He scored a second in the same match.
References
- "Brad Weber Chiefs Player Profile". Chiefs. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- "NZ Super Rugby franchises name 2014 squads". Super XV. 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- https://www.sporty.co.nz/dunedinrfc
- "Brad Weber makes mercy dash to join Mooloos". Waikato Times. Fairfax. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- "SA Rugby Match Centre – Crusaders 10-18 Chiefs". South African Rugby Union. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- "Initial 2014 ITM Cup Squad Announced". Waikato Rugby. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- "Waikato 2015 ITM Cup Captaincy Announcement". Waikato Rugby. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- "Waikato Confirm Brad Webers Departure to Hawke's Bay". Stuff New Zealand. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- "Brad Weber Player Profile". JWC 2011. IRB. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- "All Blacks have narrow win over Samoa in Apia". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 13 October 2015.