Jared Benjamin Payne (born 13 October 1985) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

centre who played for

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and the

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

national team. He was a member of the

2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand The British & Irish Lions toured New Zealand during June and July 2017. The Lions, a rugby union team selected from players eligible to represent England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland na ...

, but did not play a test match. On his retirement from playing in 2018, he took over as Ulster's defence coach, a position he left at the end of the 2021-22 season. Since 2022 he has been defence coach for Clermont Auvergne. Payne was born in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and represented New Zealand at U21 and 7s level, as well as captaining his provincial side Northland. He began his Super Rugby career with the Chiefs in 2007 before moving to the Crusaders in 2009. He made 22 appearances for the Crusaders over two seasons. He moved to the Blues for the 2011 Super Rugby campaign and was one of the standout players in the competition as he played centre and fullback with flair. Payne played most of his New Zealand rugby at centre and fullback, but also covered the wing.

Early life

Payne was born in

on 13 October 1985. He was educated at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand, a feat achieved in part thanks to its original inception as a private school. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it r ...

in 1999, and then

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Kura Tamatāne o Kirikiriroa'') is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was estab ...

Professional career

New Zealand

Between 2006 and 2007 Payne played for

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

, and from 2008 until 2011 played for Northland, whom he captained from 2009 til 2011. Payne debuted with the

Waikato Chiefs The Chiefs (; formerly known as the Waikato Chiefs and officially called the Gallagher Chiefs for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, Waikato. The team competes in the Super Rugby Pacific c ...

in 2007, however his game time was limited and he was not re-signed for the 2008 season. In 2009, Payne was signed by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, for whom he made 22 appearances in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2010 it was announced the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

had signed him for the 2011 Super Rugby season.

Ulster Rugby

In 2011, Payne signed with

, making his Ulster debut on 16 September against the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

, where he made a solid start for his new team. Payne injured his Achilles tendon in a match against Treviso in October 2011 keeping him out for the rest of the season. He returned for the start of the 2012/13 season and his flair and dynamic play made him one of Ulster's key playmakers in their run to the Heineken Cup Quarter-Finals and Pro12 Finals. He signed a new contract with Ulster in May 2013, keeping him at Ravenhill until 2016. He signed a new contract with Ulster in May 2016, keeping him at Ravenhill until 2018. Payne was forced to retire in May 2018 due to head injury sustained during the 2017 Lions tour, though Ulster announced him as their new defence coach.

Clermont Auvergne

In January 2022 it was announced that Payne would be leaving Ulster at the end of the season, with Clermont Auvergne announcing he would join as defence coach the following season. In January 2023, Payne took interim charge of Clermont Auvergne following the removal of

Jono Gibbes Jonathan Brian Gibbes (born 22 January 1977) is a rugby union former player and coach. He is a former New Zealand rugby union player who captained , the Chiefs and the Māori All Blacks, and appeared in various All Blacks teams. He is the form ...

as head coach.

International career

Representative rugby

Payne played for the New Zealand Under-21s and Schools sevens teams. Payne played his first test for Ireland against South Africa on 8 November 2014.

British & Irish Lions

Payne was selected as part of the 2017 British & Irish Lions squad to take part in their tour of New Zealand. He started in three of the matches on tour, including fixtures against his former teams the Blues and Chiefs. Payne scored a try in the second half against the Chiefs but was subbed off with a concussion in the 76th minute. Payne withdrew from the squad in the following days and this proved to be his last game of rugby, as he retired following this serious head injury.

References