Craig Green
Craig Ivan Green, (born 23 March 1961) is a New Zealand born rugby union footballer turned coach. He played on the wing. He played provincial rugby for Canterbury, played for the All Blacks and finished off his career in Italy.
| Birth name | Craig Ivan Green | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 23 March 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 79 kg (12 st 6 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Shirley Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Josh Ashworth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Rugby union coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All Blacks
He played 39 times (including 20 test matches) as an All Black from 1983 until 1987. He then "walked away" at 26 because of the low compensation despite the time and commitment required.[1]
Club career
He played a few years at the provincial team Canterbury, where he won the National Provincial Championship in 1983. From 1985 to 1989 he played in Italy, at Benetton Treviso, club where he won the Italian championship in 1989. One of his partners in the Italian team was the All Black John Kirwan, Green's teammate in the 1987 World Cup won by the New Zealanders.
In 1991 he moved to Casale, where he played until 1994.
Coaching career
Recently he has moved back to Italy and is running their development program. Green coached schoolboy rugby at Brisbane Boys' College in Brisbane, Australia. Between 2002 and 2007 he came back to Italy, to coach his former player days team Benetton Treviso. With the Italian club he had a hugely successful era; achieving the national title in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, and the Coppa Italia in 2005.
Rugby record
- Six tries in 1987 world cup including 4 tries against Fiji
- Has 110 first class tries from 160 first class games.
Notes and references
- "Why All Black Craig Green walked away after winning the 1987 rugby world cup". Stuff (Fairfax). 11 May 2019.