Mitchell "Mitch" Karpik (born 2 June 1995) is a retired

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player who played as a

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for in New Zealand's domestic

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and the in the international

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competition. Karpik became a lawyer after injury cut his rugby career short.

Early career

Born and raised in Auckland, Karpik attended King's College in Otahuhu from 2009-2013, and was captain of the 1st XV. Karpik also grew up playing cricket for the Parnell Pirates and had a reputation as a formidable all rounder. Furthermore, during High School Karpik; along with future agent Scott Bevin, formed the all conquering Greenbank Javelin academy, garnering success for many years.https://www.kingscollege.school.nz/media/349042/Greenbank-House-Handbook-2017.pdf After graduating from high school, he played his club rugby in the Auckland region and played for the under-20 and developmental teams.

Senior career

He received his first taste of provincial rugby with during the

2015 ITM Cup The 2015 ITM Cup season was the tenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 13, when Southland hosted Auckland. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

, where he played a starring role in their run to the Premiership final. He played 11 of Auckland's 12 games during the campaign and scored 3 tries in what was to be his only season with them. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, it was announced that Karpik would be joining the Bay of Plenty Steamers for

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. Unfortunately for both parties, a knee injury sustained at the beginning of the year ruled him of the entire campaign which saw the Steamers eliminated at the semi-final stage after finishing 4th on the Championship log.

Super Rugby

His debut season at provincial level with Auckland was enough to convince the

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-based

franchise to hand him a contract for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

. A knee injury picked up in pre-season match against the saw him miss the entire campaign. Despite this, he was retained in the squad for

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International

Karpik represented both New Zealand Schools and New Zealands Schools Barbarians while at King's College and was also a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which won the

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Career Honours

New Zealand Under-20 *

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Super Rugby Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karpik, Mitchell 1995 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union flankers Auckland rugby union players Bay of Plenty rugby union players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players People educated at King's College, Auckland Rugby union players from Auckland Ngāti Rongomaiwahine people Ngāti Kahungunu people Māori All Blacks players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen