Leon Raymond MacDonald (born 21 December 1977) is a retired 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 ...

footballer, and former head coach for the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are 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 b ...

rugby team, who played 56 tests for the national team, 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 ...

. He played as a first five-eighth (fly-half),

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, and fullback. He is currently a coaching consultant with the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

Career

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

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

and seven for the Chiefs in the Super 14, and played for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

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 ...

. 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 Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

premier competition. He made his

debut age 22, versus

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 ...

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 The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

in 2005 in Hamilton. In the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, he was shifted from fullback to centre by All Blacks backline coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...

. This proved to be a failure, and the last time he played at centre. In 2005, he was shifted to first five-eighth during the Tri-Nations to cover for the injured Daniel Carter.

Japan

In 2004 season, MacDonald played for Yamaha Jubilo in Japan. He played for

Kintetsu Liners Hanazono Kintetsu Liners are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium, which was also ...

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 for the 2010 season.

All Blacks

MacDonald was appointed as an assistant coach for the All Blacks in 2024, a specialising in the attack area for the All Blacks. After five tests in the role, two of which were rugby championship games, MacDonald decided to resign and left his role due to having differing views with the head coach Scott Robertson.

Western Force

In February 2025 MacDonald was appointed as a coaching consultant to the Western Force.https://westernforce.rugby/news/force-worldclass-addition-macdonald-appointment-2025218

Cricket

He has also played for Marlborough in the

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat ...

when they won it in the 1993–94 season.

References

External links

* * * {{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 (Super Rugby) players Rangitāne people Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Shizuoka Blue Revs players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union players from Blenheim, New Zealand People educated at Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough rugby union players New Zealand cricketers New Zealand rugby union coaches 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...