Todd Blackadder (born 20 September 1971) 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 ...

player and professional rugby coach. He played 12 tests (25 games) for 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 ...

, and had 14 appearances as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Blackadder captained 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 ...

to three

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 ...

titles during his time with the franchise. He also won two

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 ...

titles with

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 ...

. Blackadder coached the Crusaders for nine seasons from 2009 to 2016. Blackadder began his career as a blindside flanker but switched to

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

in 1998.

Early years

Blackadder was born in

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury Region, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the ...

, New Zealand, where he grew up on his grandfather's dairy farm, and took after his father and uncles by playing for the local rugby club. He attended Rangiora College, but did not make the 1st XV in his time there. When he left school, Blackadder moved north to Collingwood to take up a welding apprenticeship. While there, he played club rugby and impressed age-group selectors for Nelson Bays, which led to him eventually being selected for the New Zealand Under 19 tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Blackadder left his welding apprenticeship to return to dairy farming, and found work on the farm of Brian McKay, the father of a friend in Collingwood. Blackadder and McKay's daughter Priscilla married, and they returned to Rangiora where Blackadder had various jobs as a security guard and courier.

Playing career

Blackadder made his senior representative debut for Nelson Bays against

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

in 1990.

NPC

Blackadder made his debut for Canterbury in 1991. In 1997 Blackadder led

to its first NPC title in 14 years when they defeated Counties Manukau 44–13 in the final. Blackadder also won the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

on several occasions including defeating

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 ...

in 1994 while he was also present when Canterbury ended

's three-year stranglehold on the shield in 2000. Blackadder played 126 games for Canterbury over his 11 years for the province. His final game for Canterbury was the 2001 NPC final against

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

which Canterbury won 30–19.

Super Rugby

Blackadder was part of the inaugural Crusaders team in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and would go on to lead the side to its first Super Rugby title in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. They defeated 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 ...

in the final 20–13. Blackadder led the Crusaders to three consecutive Super Rugby championships in the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

seasons, laying the foundations for the Crusaders' status as the most successful franchise in Super Rugby history.

International career

Blackadder played at the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens in 1993. He was called in to the side as an injury replacement for Marc Ellis. Blackadder was first selected for the

in 1995 and made his test debut 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 ...

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on 20 June 1998. Blackadder was dropped from the All Blacks under John Hart, and missed the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

. New Zealand's loss to

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in the semi-finals resulted in Hart resigning from the coaching role. Following Hart's departure, Wayne Smith was appointed head coach, and Blackadder was recalled to the team and named captain, succeeding Taine Randell. The decision was met with fanfare by some who liked Blackadders simple and uncomplicated approach. However, his locking ability and role leading the All Blacks were often under the microscope from the public and media, even as players like All Blacks great

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in the history of the sport, and as one of the most talented sportsm ...

stated that he was one of the finest captains he ever played under. Following one season captaining the All Blacks, Blackadder failed to make the 30-man squad in the lead up to the Tri-Nations, and was replaced as captain by hooker Anton Oliver.

Scotland

Blackadder departed New Zealand for Scotland at the end of 2001, joining Scottish side

Edinburgh Gunners Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

Coaching career

Blackadder was named as assistant forwards coach of

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, under Matt Williams. He became the forwards coach of the Edinburgh Gunners under Frank Hadden. When Hadden left Edinburgh to replace Matt Williams in the national coaching role in 2005, Blackadder was named as Edinburgh's head coach for the remainder of the season. Blackadder confirmed his departure from Edinburgh to return to New Zealand in 2006.

Tasman

On his return to New Zealand, Blackadder took up a role as the Director of Rugby for the new Tasman Rugby Union, formed from an amalgamation of the Nelson Bays and

unions. While working with Tasman, Blackadder also worked in an advisory capacity with

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 ...

and the Crusaders. In 2007, Tasman coach Dennis Brown stepped down, and Blackadder stepped in as coach for the 2008

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

. In only their second year Tasman finished the 2008 season with four wins, one draw, and six losses.

Crusaders

Following the departure of coach

from the

, Blackadder was named as the sides new head coach ahead of the 2009 Super 14 Rugby Season. After a shaky start to the season with only one win from five games, the Blackadder coached Crusaders finished the season with eight wins, one draw, and four losses. They reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champions the Bulls in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. In his second year in charge, the Crusaders were the only New Zealand team to advance to the playoffs, but again fell to the Bulls in the semi-finals. During the 2011 season, the Crusaders were dislodged from their home ground, Jade Stadium due to structural damage caused in Christchurch by the

2010 Canterbury earthquake The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercal ...

, and the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

. They played their home games at a number of venues throughout the Crusaders catchment area. Despite the disruption, the Crusaders managed to make the final that year, before falling to the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

, who won their first title. In 2012, the Crusaders were knocked out by eventual first-time champions the Chiefs in the semi-finals. In 2013, the Crusaders again fell to the Chiefs in the semi-final, and the Chiefs went on to their second consecutive championship. In the 2014 season, the Crusaders returned to the final but again fell short, this time against the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

after a controversial last minute penalty goal. In 2015, the Crusaders failed to make the knockout rounds for the first time in Blackadder's tenure. Despite this, the Crusaders extended his contract for another year. In late 2015, it was announced that 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 ...

would be Blackadder's last as coach. In his final season as coach the Crusaders were knocked out in the quarter finals by the eventual runner-up Lions. During his time coaching the Crusaders, Blackadder guided the side to two Super Rugby Finals, and had a total record of 85 wins, 3 draws, and 45 losses from 133 games coached.

Bath

Blackadder was appointed Director of Rugby at

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

ahead of the 2016–17 Premiership Rugby season. He was joined at Bath by his assistant coach from the Crusaders, Tabai Matson, who took on the role of head coach. When Matson was forced to return home to New Zealand due to a family illness, Blackadder took over the coaching position. During his time as coach, the club was unable to reach finish better than the top six. On 17 April 2019, it was announced that he would be leaving the club at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Toshiba

On his release from his final year of his contract with Bath, Blackadder revealed that he would be taking on the role of head coach with the Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Japanese Top League.

Personal life

Todd's son Ethan Blackadder currently plays for Tasman in the

, and in 2018 made his debut for the Crusaders in

. On 3 July 2021, Ethan made his debut as an All Black against Tonga at

Mount Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...

. He came off the bench in the 102-0 victory, becoming All Black number 1195. Todd and Ethan Blackadder became the 21st father and son combination to have played for the All Blacks.

References

External links

*
NZ Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackadder, Todd 1971 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Nelson Bays rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Rangiora High School Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Rangiora New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Expatriate rugby union coaches Bath Rugby head coaches New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Edinburgh Rugby players Edinburgh Rugby coaches