Paul Kaine Robertson (born 29 October 1980 in

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 ...

) is a

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 from

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 ...

who plays rugby union for Viadana, and international rugby for

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 ...

born Kaine Robertson moved to Italy in 1998, previously he played in the same Auckland Grammar school team as 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 ...

leading try scorer

Doug Howlett Douglas Charles Howlett (born 21 September 1978) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He was primarily a wing, but he also sometimes played as a fullback. He played for Auckland, and the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Blues ...

Club

Robertson joined the Viadana and first played for their junior squad; he made his debut for the senior squad on 22 September 2001 at

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

against Petrarca. Robertson contributed to Viadana's victory in the 2001–02 Italian Championship with 12 tries that made him the Italian seasonal top try scorer; he went on winning two Italian Cups (in 2003 and 2007), and was part of the side that got to the Championship's final in 2008–09, who eventually lost to Benetton Treviso. He was also top try scorer in 2006–07 (9 tries) and 2008–09 (11 tries). His pace and power made him an immediate hit with his club side Viadana, he contributed to Viadana's victory in the 2001–02 Italian Championship with 12 tries that made him the Italian seasonal top try scorer; and was part of the Viadana side that won two Italian Cups (in 2003 and 2007). He was also top try scorer in the Italian league in 2006–07 (9 tries) and 2008–09 (11 tries). He joined the inaugural

Aironi Aironi Rugby (, "herons") was an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup, representing the Italian regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It lost its status as a regional side at the end of the 2011–12 ...

side for the 2010/11 season, but didn't play until January after suffering a shoulder injury in pre season, once back from injury he regained his position as starting winger, starting in all games for the rest of the season. The season of 2011/2012 was again hindered by injury and he missed the entire season due to his 3rd knee reconstruction. After Aironi was disbanded in the summer of 2012 Kaine chose to re-join Viadana. Many of his former Aironi teammates joined the new team

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

International

Robertson made his

debut against

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in 2004, after becoming eligible through residency. He scored on his debut. He made his Six Nations debut as a replacement against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 2005, but it was in 2007 that he had his finest moment in an Italy shirt. Robertson scored one of Italy's four tries against

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to secure Italy's first ever away Six Nations win he backed this up with an incredible solo try against the Welsh team the following week in Rome with the Azzurri also winning this game. He was selected by then Italy boss

Pierre Berbizier Pierre Berbizier (born 17 June 1958) is a French former rugby union footballer and a current coach. His usual position was at scrum-half. He played 56 times for France. Biography Berbizier was born in Saint-Gaudens. He made his international d ...

for Italy's 2007 World Cup squad, playing in three matches as the Azzurri were knocked out at the group stages. Robertson was back in action for the

2008 Six Nations The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

, playing in four of five Tests before touring

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and

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in the summer. He then featured in all three of Italy's autumn internationals as they went down to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subreg ...

. He continued to be a constant member of the Italy side up until 2010 when a number of injuries halted his 15's international career. He then continued his international career on the 7s series playing an integral part in the Azzurri making the final at Hong Kong 7s Qualifying tournament in 2014 losing that final to Japan.

References

External links

RBS 6 Nations profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Kaine 1980 births Living people Aironi players Rugby Viadana players Italian rugby union players New Zealand emigrants to Italy New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union wings Italy international rugby union players People educated at Auckland Grammar School Rugby union players from Auckland 2007 Rugby World Cup players