Early career
De Groot was born on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the Australia, Australian States and territories of Australia, north-eastern state of Queensland. He attended Gore High School and then Southland Boys' High School for his final year in 2016. He played junior rugby for Albion-Excelsior and senior rugby for the Invercargill Rugby Club (Blues), winning the Galbraith Shield in 2019. He signed for the Highlanders squad in 2020. De Groot did two years of a building apprenticeship before focusing on rugby.International career
De Groot made his international debut for on 10 July 2021 against Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji at Dunedin, becoming the first Southlander to debut for the national side since Elliot Dixon in 2016. De Groot scored his first test try in a 104–14 win over the United States; the test match in which he first started for the All Blacks. De Groot was not selected for Ian Foster's first All Black Squad in 2022, with Aidan Ross and Angus Ta’avao selected ahead of him. However, with the All Blacks being handed their first home series loss to Ireland, de Groot was re-selected for the 2022 Rugby Championship squad. De Groot became a regular starter for New Zealand in 2022, playing nine tests and scoring one try that season. Retaining his role as the first-choice loosehead prop in 2023, de Groot was selected in Ian Foster (rugby union), Ian Foster's 33-man squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. De Groot became the List of Rugby World Cup red cards, first New Zealand player to be given a red card in a Rugby World Cup in the pool stage of the tournament. In this pool game against Namibia, a 71–3 win, he was initially given a yellow card for a high tackle on Adriaan Booysen, with a 'bunker' review upgrading it to a red. De Groot returned from a suspension to produce strong performances in New Zealand's quarter and semi-final fixtures against Ireland and Argentina respectively before he started in the World Cup final; an 11–12 loss to South Africa.References
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* * 1998 births Living people Rugby union players from the Gold Coast, Queensland New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Australian rugby union players Australian emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of Australian descent New Zealand people of Dutch descent Rugby union props Southland rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players 2023 Rugby World Cup players People educated at Gore High School People educated at Southland Boys' High School 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1990s-stub