Greg Mardon Somerville is a 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 is a former

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 ...

and a specialised tighthead

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

who can also play loosehead. Somerville made his All Black debut in 2000 against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, a match in which the All Blacks won 102–0. Somerville went 41 test matches before scoring his first, and only test try against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

in 2005. Somerville played domestic rugby for

Canterbury Rugby Football Union The Canterbury Rugby Football Union (which is also referred to as Canterbury or CRFU) is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand, and runs the Canterbury representative team. The Canterbury team ...

and 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, having played 100 matches for the latter after debuting against the Chiefs in 1999. Somerville's nickname is

Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film '' The Empire Strikes Back'', in which he is voiced and puppeteered by F ...

, after the fictional character from

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

due to their resemblance. Somerville left New Zealand in late 2008, having signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

team

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. In 2010 he left Gloucester for the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

, with whom he spent the 2011 season before retiring. Somerville's sporting hero is

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 ...

, who, he says, "was a tremendous leader for 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 ...

and an outstanding front-rower."

Other

* Played 42 matches for New Zealand before scoring his first try against

in 2005. This was an All Blacks record at the time for the most matches before scoring a point. * Played in six RWC 2003 matches. * Played a leadership role for the

in the

2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

References

Sources

*''

SA Sports Illustrated ''SA Sports Illustrated'' was a South African sports magazine published in print monthly. History and profile Founded by Richard Whittingdale in 1985 as owner, founder and editor. The Swimwear edition also founded in 1985 by Richard. Richard ra ...

''. "My Hero: Four All Black rugby players reveal their sport heroes." October 2008: 35.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Greg 1977 births New Zealand international rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union props Melbourne Rebels players People from Wairoa Gloucester Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Australia Rugby union players from Hawke's Bay 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players