Alan Whetton (born 15 December 1959) also known as ''AJ'' 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 ...

footballer who played for New Zealand's national team, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. Whetton first played representative rugby for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1981. He played alongside his twin brother Gary for both Auckland, and later the All Blacks. He played a variety of positions early in his career, playing at number eight and

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before playing most often as a flanker. He first played for the All Blacks in 1984 on their tour of Australia, and played his first Test match on 21 July against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He toured with the controversial

New Zealand Cavaliers The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and t ...

on their tour of South Africa in 1986. He was banned for two matches for participating in the tour, but by 1987 had cemented his place in the All Blacks. As part of a loose forward trio with

Buck Shelford Sir Wayne Thomas "Buck" Shelford (born 13 December 1957) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer and coach who represented and captained New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand (the All Blacks) in the late 1980s. He is also cre ...

and Michael Jones that played 13 Tests together, Whetton played throughout the All Blacks victorious

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

campaign of

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, scoring a try in each of the Pool matches, the Quarter Final and Semi Final. Whetton continued to play for the All Blacks until their semi-final defeat to Australia at the 1991 World Cup. He played for Auckland in 1992, and finished with 150 matches for his province. Following retirement from rugby in New Zealand, he was a player coach for Kobe Steel between 1996 and 1999. He was a commentator for New Zealand's TV3 network during their coverage of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

,. Whetton is currently part of the

Solid Gold (radio) The Sound, previously known as Solid Gold FM, is a New Zealand radio network owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Solid Gold began broadcasting on 13 October 1997 and was rebranded as The Sound on 1 January 2012. The Sound has a classic rock forma ...

breakfast team and is involved in the business of sporting signage. In his personal life, Whetton is married with two daughters.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whetton, Alan J. 1959 births Auckland rugby union players People educated at Auckland Grammar School Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players West Hartlepool R.F.C. players New Zealand twins Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Auckland 1987 Rugby World Cup players 1991 Rugby World Cup players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England