Kurt Baker (born 7 October 1988) 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, who currently plays as a fullback or

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for

Old Glory DC Old Glory DC RFC is an American professional rugby union team based in the Washington metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). Old Glory was founded in 2018, played some exhibition games in 2019, and began regular-season MLR pl ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). Between 2008 and 2022, Baker played for the New Zealand Sevens team in 233

World Rugby Sevens Series The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World ...

games and a total of 53 international tournaments. In his

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

career, he won 12 World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments, five World Rugby Sevens Series titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020), two gold medals at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

(2010, 2018), two gold medals and one silver medal at the

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) was the former quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it consisted of men's and women's tournaments, and was the highest level of competition in the sport ...

(2013, 2018, 2022) and a silver medal at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(2020). Baker has also played for the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is ...

Club career

Manawatu

Upon leaving school, Baker was contracted by the

Manawatu Rugby Union The Manawatu Rugby Football Union (MRU) serves as the governing body of the sport of rugby union in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. Founded in 1886, Manawatu is one of New Zealand's oldest rugby unions. In 1892, the MRU, amongst ...

. In his second year out of school he was a part of 's 2008 national provincial championship squad. He was spotted by coach

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player. He will take over the Kobe Steelers as head coach for the 2023–24 season. He previously was the head coach of the Austral ...

and had signed with Manawatu at just 20 years old. Baker made his debut for Manawatu in the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup competition, coming on as a replacement against in a

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 ...

match. He went on to make his starting debut against , whilst also scoring his first professional

try. Returning to Manawatu for the

2009 Air New Zealand Cup The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition's reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November. It was ...

, Baker scored three tries, the province's second top try scorer of the year along with three fellow players. He also was suspended from all rugby for eight weeks after allegedly verbally abusing assistant referee Zarne Johnson in a competition match between and Manawatu. Baker was also charged with allegedly threatening Johnson.

Highlanders

Baker was signed by the after an impressive

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Teknologi Mara, a public university in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia * Institute for Information, Tel ...

and New Zealand sevens campaign in 2010; he signed a two-year deal with the

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 ...

-based

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 ...

franchise. A stress fracture in his back – which he suffered in Delhi winning gold at the

– had ruled Baker out of all rugby for three months. Though he was expected to overcome the injury before 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 ...

started, a scan in February showed the fracture had not mended and he was subsequently released by the Highlanders to their wider training group and was then replaced in the Highlanders squad by Kade Poki. Andre Taylor was Taranaki's preferred fullback throughout 2011, but Baker, who had re-signed with through until the end of 2012, was recalled by the Highlanders despite lasting just one full game during the shortened

season. He eventually made his debut for the Highlanders in the third round of the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of 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 tea ...

, coming on as a replacement against the in

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 ...

. Baker made a further four appearances and scored two tries, one such try against the in round nine saw him chase a kick at pace to what ended up being the winning try. Baker did not return to the Highlanders for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumbi ...

, but instead signed with the as a member of their wider training group. In November 2013, Baker returned to the Highlanders after a successful ITM Cup campaign as a member of the Taranaki side that won the 2014 ITM Cup Premiership over . He signed with the side for two years after putting aside his sevens career to concentrate on

Taranaki

In December 2009, Baker decided to move north to along with Manawatu teammate Andre Taylor, who both signed with the union on a two-year deal. He made his debut for the province starting at fullback against in round one of the 2010 ITM Cup. After being sidelined throughout the

with a stress fracture in his back, the injury eventually improved and he managed to play several games for Taranaki in their 2011 ITM Cup campaign. Baker also featured in the squads infamous

win over . Heading into the

2012 ITM Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he had scored nine tries in nineteen games for the province. Baker made an immediate impact with his decisive running and ability to spot a gap for Taranaki in 2012. His ability to put a player into space also caught the eye. He finished the year as the first-choice fullback. At the end of the

2013 ITM Cup The 2013 ITM Cup season was the eighth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on 15 August, when Counties Manukau (National Provincial Championship), Counties Man ...

season, Baker was nominated for the Taranaki Sportsman of the Year award after a stand-out season. While he missed out on that award, Baker was given the Back of the Year award, Personality of the Year award and Try of the Year award for his superb try against . After a six-week ban for a dangerous tackle in the Highlanders' round 8 game against the , Baker badly tore a hamstring in club rugby in

. After working his way back to fitness, he finally got a start for Taranaki against in the 2014 ITM Cup, only to suffer an AC joint injury just a few minutes into the game. However, he finished the season on a high, after being a part of Taranaki's narrow victory over at

Yarrow Stadium Stadium Taranaki is situated in the central suburb of Westown in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand, with main vehicle access off Maratahu Street. Named the third best rugby stadium on earth by ''New Zealand Rugby World'' magazine in May 2009 ...

to win the province's first

Premiership title. Baker scored five tries and made a further eleven appearances in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Zebre

On 18 June 2016, Italian

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

club

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 ...

announced that Baker would join the Italian club for the 2016–17 season. During that season, Baker played 517 minutes in 9 games (starting in 7) for Zebre and scored one try for the club in their game against

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

. Baker did not return to Zebre for the second year of his contract.

Hawke's Bay

The

Hawke's Bay Rugby Union The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union (HBRU) is the governing body of rugby union in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The union is based in Napier. The Hawke's Bay representative team are nicknamed ''The Magpies''. History The Hawke's Bay Ru ...

announced on 3 August 2020 that Baker would join the Magpies for the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the 15th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour (National Provincial Championship), North Har ...

season. – via

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. It proved to be a successful move for Baker. He helped the Magpies win the

(taking it off ), successfully defend the Shield three times against challenges from , and , and win the Mitre 10 Cup Championship title.

Old Glory DC

On 9 December 2022,

announced that club had signed Baker for the 2023 Major League Rugby season. He played his first game for his new team on 18 February 2023 against Chicago Hounds and scored a try on debut.

International career

New Zealand Sevens

Baker was selected in the

New Zealand Sevens The New Zealand national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They have won a record 14 World Rugby Sevens Series titles. The team played for the ...

squad for the opening two rounds of the

2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series The 2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series was the tenth of an annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. South Africa clinched the 2008–09 Wo ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

and George, making his international rugby debut at The Sevens. In 2009, Baker was named in the

trial squad, but went on to play in the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and George Sevens later that year. In 2010, Baker secured a permanent position in the

squad, playing in all six tournaments. In the

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens ( zh, t=香港國際七人欖球賽, link=no) is a rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competiti ...

, he led the New Zealand team in scoring four tries in their semi-final win over Fiji and two tries in their Cup final loss to Samoa. He was also the top individual try scorer and point scorer of the tournament. Later in 2010, Baker was named in Gordon Tietjens' squad for the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, India. He was a stand-out in the final against

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 ...

, coming on as a replacement and scoring one of the winning tries to ensure the team the gold medal. Baker was named as a non-travelling reserve for the All Blacks Sevens squad for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He featured at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. He won a silver medal after his side lost to

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 the gold medal final. Baker announced his retirement from international rugby sevens after the 2022 Dubai Sevens.

Māori All Blacks

Although the then 24-year-old Baker had only played seven matches for the ,

Jamie Joseph James Whitinui Joseph (born 21 November 1969) is a New Zealand-born Japanese former rugby union player and current rugby union coach. A flanker, Joseph represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, ...

, the

coach, selected him for the 2012 UK end of year tour to England, playing against domestic club team

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 ...

, a specially made RFU Championship XV, and ending against the Canadian national team.

Personal life

Baker is a New Zealander of Māori descent (

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

descent).

Career honours

*Taranaki - 2014 ITM Cup Premiership *Hawke's Bay -

Championship *Highlanders - 2015 Super Rugby *New Zealand 7s -

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organized by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three d ...

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, 2020 Tokyo Olympics Silver Medalist

References

External links

* *
NZ Rugby History profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Kurt 1988 births Living people Ngāpuhi people People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School Rugby union players from Palmerston North New Zealand rugby union players Māori All Blacks players Highlanders (rugby union) players Taranaki rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Hawke's Bay rugby union players New Zealand male rugby sevens players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings New Zealand international rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rugby sevens Rugby sevens players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for New Zealand Old Glory DC players Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Zebre Parma players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Italy New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in the United States 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen