George Braeden Whitelock (born 27 March 1986) is a former New Zealand

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 ...

player. He played for 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 ...

in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

competition and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in the

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

. He played as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

Biography

George is the son of a former Junior All Black, Braeden Whitelock, and the grandson of

All Black 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 ...

Nelson Dalzell. He has three younger brothers including All Blacks

Sam Whitelock Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Whitelock has played over 150 tests for New Zealand since his debut in 2010 and is the youngest New Zealander to reach 100 tests. He is the fastest ...

and

Luke Whitelock Luke Charles Whitelock (born 29 January 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loose forward for Section Paloise (Pau) in France's Top 14 rugby competition. Whitelock has Captained Canterbury, the Highlanders and N ...

as well as former

player Adam Whitelock. All four Whitelock boys were educated in

Feilding Feilding is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 54, State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. ...

and played their junior rugby for Palmerston North High School Old Boys' Rugby Football Club. Whitelock married former

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player and Black Sticks Women captain

Kayla Sharland Kayla Marie Whitelock (née Sharland, born 30 October 1985) is a New Zealand field hockey player, and former captain of the New Zealand women's national field hockey team (the ''Black Sticks Women''). She has competed in four Olympic Games (200 ...

in December 2013. He retired in late 2015, opening a gym with his wife in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

. Whitelock also holds an agricultural diploma from Lincoln University.

Rugby union career

Junior representative teams

Whitelock played for and captained both the New Zealand National Under-19 and New Zealand National Under-21 teams.

Provincial

Whitelock debuted for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

in 2007 against Southland playing in all but two of their matches that season. The following year Whitelock transferred to

alongside his brother

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

. In his first year with Canterbury, Whitelock was part of the team which won the 2008 NPC. In 2009 Whitelock was named captain of the

team. He would go on to lead the Canterbury team through one of its most successful periods becoming the only player to captain a side to five NPC titles in a row. Whitelock was also captain when

lifted the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

from

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in 2009.

Super Rugby

Whitelock made his

debut against the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

in 2008 becoming the first of the Whitelock brothers to do play for the Crusaders. In a remarkable occasion in professional sport teams all four Whitelock brothers played together for the first time in a competitive match in March 2013 (vs. Bulls). Other than a preseason match at the beginning of the previous season this was the first time playing together since playing for Fielding High School in 2003. The brothers would play a further 17 games together at their time with the Crusaders. Despite playing for a

back row stacked with talent including

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 ...

Reuben Thorne Reuben David Thorne (born 2 January 1975) is a New Zealand rugby union player, and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Now involved with Big Brother Big Sister and is the Christ College first xv coach. Professional career and ...

Mose Tuiali'i Moses Moses Tuiali'i (born 25 March 1981) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A Loose forward (rugby union), Loose forward, Tuiali'i notably played for the Crusaders (rugby union), Crusaders in Super Rugby between 2004 and 2008. He also ...

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captain (sports), captained the New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 t ...

, Keiran Read and

Matt Todd Matthew Brendon Todd (born 24 March 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Crusaders (rugby), Crusaders. Todd played as a rugby union/flanker, flanker for 25 tests for New Zealand ...

. Whitelock played 86 games for the Crusaders including captaining them on a number of occasions. Following the conclusion of the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

Whitelock announced he was leaving to take up a one-year deal with the

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...

coached

Panasonic Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta, Gunma, Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which played in the Top League. In 2021 it relocated 13 kilometers south to Kumagaya, Saitama, Kumag ...

. Whitelock retired from all forms of rugby at the end of this deal.

All Blacks

Whitelock made his test debut for

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 ...

in 2009 against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in Christchurch, impressing off the bench and scoring a try. With brother Luke's All Black debut in 2013, George, Sam and

Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...

became the first trio of siblings to play for the All Blacks.

References

External links

*
George Whitelock Crusaders Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitelock, George 1986 births Living people Crusaders (rugby union) players Canterbury rugby union players Otago rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union flankers New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union players from Palmerston North New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Saitama Wild Knights players People educated at Feilding High School Dalzell-Whitelock family