Taine Plumtree (born 9 March 2000) is a Welsh professional

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 who plays as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

for the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. Plumtree began his career with

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in the NPC, and played for the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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 ...

. Plumtree has represented

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, making his debut on 5 August 2023.

Club career

Wellington and Blues

Plumtree was a member of the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the 15th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour (National Provincial Championship), North Har ...

squad. He was named in the Blues squad for the

2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season The 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season (branded as Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by New Zealand Rugby. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second sea ...

, making his debut during the season. Plumtree scored a hattrick for Wellington against Northland in the opening round of the

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the 16th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top 14 rugb ...

Scarlets

On 27 June 2023, Plumtree signed for the

. Plumtree made his first Scarlets appearance in a preseason friendly against the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, along with fellow new signing Ioan Lloyd. Plumtree and Lloyd made their competitive debuts for the Scarlets together against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

on the Scarlets’ South African tour.

International career

New Zealand U20

Plumtree was part of the New Zealand U20 squad for the

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the twelfth edition of the premier age-grade competition for rugby. The tournament was held in Argentina for the second time, having been hosted there in 2010. Defending champions France won the u ...

Wales

On 3 July 2023, Plumtree joined the

squad for their

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

training camp in Switzerland. Despite representing New Zealand U20, Plumtree qualified for Wales via birth, and was not bound to New Zealand. Plumtree made his debut on 5 August 2023, coming off the bench for Wales in the first test of their

2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Plumtree missed out on selection for the final squad due to a shoulder injury. On 4 November 2023 Plumtree played for Wales in a friendly against the Barbarians, coming off the bench and scoring a try. A recurrence of a shoulder injury ruled him out of the

2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

Personal life

The son of former New Zealand sevens player and rugby coach John Plumtree, Taine was born in Wales while his father coached

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Super Rygbi Cymru. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

, and later moved to South Africa when John was head coach of the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

. Plumtree also qualified internationally for South Africa, through his mother. Taine and his brother Reece both attended Wellington College and played for their rugby team.

References

External links

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Scarlets profileBlues profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumtree, Taine 2000 births New Zealand rugby union players Living people Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Wellington rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Scarlets players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players People educated at Wellington College, Wellington