Shaun Stevenson (born 14 November 1996) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who currently plays as an outside back for in New Zealand's domestic

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

and the in the international

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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition.

Early career

Born in North Shore, in the Auckland suburbs, Stevenson attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

where he played first XV rugby for 3 years. During his high school years he also played for local Super Rugby franchise, the at under-18 level.

Senior career

Stevenson started out his provincial career with Hamilton-based side Waikato in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. He debuted in a match against on 14 August 2015 and went on to start in all 10 games during the season, scoring 4 tries in the process. He won the Waikato Supporters Club player of the year award as a reward for his fine debut season. 2016 was not such a happy year for him as a MCL knee injury 38 minutes into the opening match of the season ruled him out for the rest of the year. In October 2016 it was announced that Stevenson would join newly promoted Mitre 10 Cup Premiership side for 2017, a move that would take him back to his place of birth.

Super Rugby

His debut season at provincial level brought him to the attention of local Super Rugby franchise, the Chiefs, who named him in their wider training group ahead of 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 ...

. He debuted in the opening match of the campaign, a New Zealand derby against the , before a shoulder injury suffered in that game ruled him out for several weeks. In total he played 6 times and scored 2 tries in 2016. This was enough to see him promoted to the Chiefs main squad for

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. In May 2019, the Chiefs extended Stevenson until 2023. A month later, he scored the first hat-trick of his career in the big away victory 59-8 against the Melbourne Rebels, allowing the chiefs to qualify for the playoffs of the

2019 Super Rugby season The 2019 Super Rugby season was the 24th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. The 2019 season was the second season using th ...

. On Week 2 of the 2023 Super Rugby season, he scored a hat-trick against

Moana Pasifika Moana Pasifika is a rugby union team made up of players from various Pacific island nations as well as New Zealand or Australian born players of Pasifika heritage, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. The team was originally crea ...

. He confirmed his good start to the season on the following day when he scored twice against the Highlanders. These performances early on in the 2023 season brought a lot of attention to him with many stating he should be selected to the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 198 ...

International

Stevenson was a New Zealand Schools representative in 2014 and was also a member of the New Zealand Under 20 side which finished 5th in the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...

where he scored 5 tries in 4 appearances. Stevenson made his senior test debut in a Bledisloe Cup test match on 5 August 2023 versus Australia, where he scored a try and helped the All Blacks win 23-20.

Personal life

Stevenson is a New Zealander of Māori descent (

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165 ...

descent).

Super Rugby Statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Shaun 1996 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Ngāpuhi people Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Waikato rugby union players People educated at Auckland Grammar School Chiefs (rugby union) players North Harbour rugby union players Māori All Blacks players Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand international rugby union players