Richard Mark Ranby (born 1 June 1977) is a former 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. A midfield back, Ranby represented Manawatu, the

Central Vikings Central Vikings Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played in the second division of the National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), NPC for two seasons in 1997 and 1998. The team, formed from the merger of the Hawke's Bay Rug ...

and

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

at a provincial level, and the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

and the Chiefs in

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 ...

. He played one international for the New Zealand national side, 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 ...

, against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in 2001. He played for the Japanese side

Coca-Cola West Red Sparks The Coca-Cola Red Sparks () was a Japanese company-owned rugby team based in Fukuoka city, Kyūshū. The team was initially founded as Kitakyushu Coca-Cola and then changed its name to Coca-Cola West Japan. The team won promotion to the expande ...

for two seasons from 2006. He spent a year studying at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 2008–09, completing a Diploma in Theology and Religious Studies, and played for Cambridge against Oxford in the 2008

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

. In 2012 he was appointed professional development manager for the Crusaders and Canterbury Rugby. Ranby's mother, Margaret Kouvelis, was elected Mayor of Manawatu in 2012.

References

1977 births Living people People from Putāruru People educated at Freyberg High School Massey University alumni Manawatu rugby union players Waikato rugby union players Central Vikings players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Coca-Cola Red Sparks players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Alumni of St Edmund's College, Cambridge Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union players from Waikato Rugby union centres {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub