Leon Raymond MacDonald (born 21 December 1977) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer, and now head coach for the

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

rugby team, who played 56 tests for the national team, the All Blacks. He played as a first five-eighth (fly-half), centre, and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Career

Born in Blenheim, MacDonald made his provincial debut for Marlborough against Buller in 1994. He played 122 matches for the Crusaders and seven for the Chiefs in the

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

, and played for Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship. He was a prodigious goal kicker. He is rare among New Zealand exported players, because he played even better after his return from Japan. In 2008, Sky Sport's ''Reunion'' awarded him the Crusader's MVP title for their Super 14 title-winning season. He played for Burnside in the Christchurch premier competition. He made his All Blacks debut age 22, versus Scotland in 2000. He scored a total of 141 test points (14 tries, 25 conversions, 7 penalties) in the 56 tests he played. He has also appeared for New Zealand Māori, playing three games and scoring 10 points, including the winning try against the British and Irish Lions in 2005 in Hamilton. In the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, he was shifted from fullback to centre by All Blacks backline coach Robbie Deans. This proved to be a failure, and was the last time he was ever to be played at centre. In 2005, he was shifted to first five-eighth during the Tri-Nations by All Blacks backline coach to cover for the injured Daniel Carter.

Japan

In 2004 season, MacDonald played for

Yamaha Jubilo Shizuoka Blue Revs (formerly the Yamaha Júbilo) are a rugby union team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The team came second behind Toshiba Brave Lupus in the second season of Japanese rugby's Top League (2004–05). They were coached by forme ...

in Japan. He played for Kintetsu Liners in Japan in the 2009–2010 season. In 2010 he announced his immediate retirement from rugby, after failing to recover from a long-term injury. It was also announced in 2010 that MacDonald would become an assistant coach for the

Tasman Makos The Tasman Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, a bay at the north end of the South Island in New Zealand. Headquartered in Nelson, TRU is New Zealand's newest provincial union, founded in 2006 with t ...

for the 2010 season.

Cricket

He has also played for Marlborough in the Hawke Cup when they won it in the 1993–94 season.

References

External links

Crusaders profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Leon 1977 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Chiefs (rugby union) players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Shizuoka Blue Revs players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union players from Blenheim, New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan People educated at Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough rugby union players New Zealand cricketers New Zealand rugby union coaches