Joshua Adrian Kronfeld (born 20 June 1971) is a TV presenter and 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 represented

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 ...

at international level and

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 ...

, the Highlanders and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

at first-class level. During his international career, Kronfeld played in 56 games for the All Blacks, gaining 54 test caps, including appearances at both the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

s. Kronfeld played as an

openside flanker Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes from ...

, and his greatest attribute was considered to be the speed with which he was able to get to breakdowns in play, in order to gain or regain possession of the ball. Kronfeld is an alumnus of

Aquinas College, Dunedin Aquinas College is one of the University of Otago#Residential Colleges, Residential Colleges of the University of Otago, named after St. Thomas Aquinas, located in the suburb of Dalmore. Formerly a Roman Catholic institution in the care of the ...

, and is a grand-nephew of two All Blacks of the 1930s, brothers

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

and Frank Solomon.

Early life

Kronfeld was born in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

, and attended

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

. Kronfeld described himself as "German-Samoan" and he is Jewish. He played his early rugby union at scrum-half and centre, switching to flanker at high school. In 1990 Kronfeld moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

to study physical education at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

. Here he became involved in the Otago University Rugby Club. After playing one game in 1992, Kronfeld gained a starting position in the

team in the

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 (NP ...

(NPC) for 1993. Kronfeld would eventually play 69 matches for Otago. He completed his BPhEd degree in 1993.

Rugby career

Kronfeld made his All Black test debut in 1995, playing against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

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 ...

. He played in the 1995 Rugby World Cup including the final in which 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 ...

lost a thrilling game to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After the inception of the

Super 12 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 in 1996, Kronfeld also played for the Highlanders Super 12 franchise. In total, Kronfeld made 42 appearances for the Highlanders. He made five appearances in the

’ 1999 World Cup campaign, which included the game against England and the amazing semi-final with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

that took place at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. Kronfeld remained a first choice player for Otago, the Highlanders and the All Blacks until 2000. At the end of the 2000 season, after 69 matches for Otago, 42 for the Highlanders in the Super 12 and 56 All Black matches including 54 tests, Kronfeld left New Zealand rugby to take up a lucrative contract with the English club, Leicester. In May 2001 he officially signed with English club

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

. After an injury-hit start to the 2001-02 season Kronfeld recovered well, establishing himself as a regular first-team player. He was an unused replacement as Leicester won the 2002 Heineken Cup Final. He was twice voted by fans Player of the Month, once

Zurich 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 ...

Player of the Month and then named by his Tigers colleagues as their Players' Player of the Season 2002-03. In 2003, Kronfeld returned to New Zealand, and subsequently retired from first-class rugby.

Life after rugby

Kronfeld has made numerous media appearances, e.g. Celebrity Treasure Island. He has also returned to the University of Otago to study physiotherapy. In 2009 Kronfeld participated in the fifth season of

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

's entertainment series ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. From September to December 2012 Josh Kronfeld hosted the

ChoiceTV Eden (stylized as eden and formerly known as Choice TV) is a privately owned, national free-to-air television channel in New Zealand and has been on air since 2012. The channel features programs on topics such as: lifestyle, news, travel, real ...

show

Brunch (New Zealand) ''Brunch'' was a New Zealand breakfast television, morning television program. It aired on ChoiceTV, Choice TV. It was hosted by April Ieremia and Josh Kronfeld. It was filmed in the Avalon Studios in Wellington NZ. The program finished its on ...

for Season One with

April Ieremia April Ieremia (born 31 October 1967) is a New Zealand former netball player and television host. Netball career April Ieremia was a New Zealand attacking player from Christchurch who represented Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury from 1983� ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kronfeld, Josh 1971 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand people of German-Jewish descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand international rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Highlanders (rugby union) players Rugby union flankers Jewish rugby union players New Zealand Jews People educated at Hastings Boys' High School University of Otago alumni Rugby union players from Hastings, New Zealand Living people 20th-century New Zealand Jews 21st-century New Zealand Jews Jewish New Zealand sportspeople 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England Otago rugby union players Samoan people of German descent

Early life

Rugby career

Life after rugby

See also

References

External links