Isaac Arapata Salmon (born 5 September 1996) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player, who currently plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors 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 ...

for in New Zealand's

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, ...

. He also plays for

New Orleans Gold The New Orleans Gold, stylized as NOLA Gold, is a professional rugby union team based in New Orleans. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Since January 2020, French rugby power ASM Clermont Auvergne has owned a minor ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Of ...

(MLR) in the United States. Salmon was educated at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in Nelson, New Zealand, the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. ...

from 2011 to 2014.

Career

While not included in the squad that was named for the

2017 Mitre 10 Cup The 2017 Mitre 10 Cup season was the twelfth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 17, when North Harbour hosted Otago. It involved the top fourteen ...

season, Salmon made his debut for the Mako on 27 August 2017 against . He went on to play 6 games for the province in his first season. He was named in the squad for the

2018 Super Rugby season The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participat ...

, but did not play. Salmon was part of the Tasman team that won the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

for the first time. He was again part of the Mako side that won their second premiership title in a row in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

. Tasman again made the final in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, with Salmon coming off the bench, but the Mako this time lost 20–23 to . In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

and

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, Salmon played for

Toronto Arrows Toronto Arrows R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that plays in Major League Rugby. The Arrows team is an independent off-shoot of the Ontario Blues provincial programme and is funded by a group of private investors ...

. Salmon was signed by for the

2023 Bunnings NPC The 2023 Bunnings NPC season was the eighteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, the National Provincial Championship, since it turned professional in 2006. It involved the top fourteen provincial rugby unions of New ...

season. Due to injury, he only played 3 games for his new province that season, but he was part of the team that played its very first NPC final, which the Magpies narrowly lost 19–22 to . On 13 November 2023,

announced that the club had signed Salmon for the 2024 Major League Rugby season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Isaac 1996 births Living people Blues (Super Rugby) players New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Nelson College Rugby union players from Christchurch Rugby union props Tasman rugby union players Toronto Arrows players Hawke's Bay rugby union players New Orleans Gold players