Reuben Thorne

Reuben Thorne

Thorne at the Cullinan hotel in Cape Town
Full name	Reuben David Thorne
Date of birth	(1975-01-02) 2 January 1975 (age 42)
Place of birth	Christchurch, Canterbury Region, New Zealand
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	107 kg (16 st 12 lb)
School	New Plymouth Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Lock, Flanker
New Zealand No.	988
Professional / senior clubs Years Club / team Apps (points) 2008–2009 Yamaha Jubilo
Provincial/State sides Years Club / team Apps (points) 1996–2008 Canterbury 71
Super Rugby Years Club / team Apps (points) 1997–2008 Crusaders 129 (25)
National team(s) Years Club / team Apps (points) 1999–2007 New Zealand 50 (25)

Reuben David Thorne (born 2 January 1975) is a New Zealand rugby union player, and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks.

Playing as a flanker, Thorne first appeared in the Super 12 with the Canterbury Crusaders in 1998. He became captain in 2002, immediately leading the Crusaders to Super 12 victory in an unprecedented "perfect" season—13 wins from 13 games. In 2003 and 2004 the Crusaders were runners-up in the Super 12 under his leadership.

Thorne was a rarity among All Blacks, especially captains, in that he never made an international appearance at any age-group level. He earned his first All Black cap in 1999, playing a single test against the Springboks before the 1999 Rugby Union World Cup. Taking over as captain from an injured Anton Oliver, he led the All Blacks throughout 2002 and 2003, apart from a brief tour of the UK and France in November 2002 which he missed due to a chronic ankle problem, causing former captain Taine Randell to be briefly recalled to the skipper's role. Although the team's record was excellent under Thorne's leadership (playing 22 test matches for 19 wins and 3 losses, and winning the Tri Nations Series both years and the Bledisloe Cup in 2003), his captaincy ended on a low note as the team was eliminated by the Wallabies in the semi-finals of the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. Following the World Cup, Thorne was replaced as All Blacks captain by Tana Umaga.

Thorne appeared again for the All Blacks on the 2004 end of year tour, where he was an unused reserve against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and started as a lock against the Barbarians at Twickenham. He was called in as a replacement for Jono Gibbes, who was ruled out of the tour due to injury. His record as an All Black stands at 48 tests played (22 as captain) for 42 wins and 8 losses, with 5 tries scored.