Tom McCartney (born 6 September 1985) is a

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 from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Although he mostly played as a hooker, he also played as

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. McCartney retired from rugby finishing with Irish provincial team

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in the

Pro14 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 ...

. McCartney's nickname, 'Freak,' comes from his strength in the gym.

Career

New Zealand

Provincial

McCartney started his professional rugby career in 2007, starting an NPC game for

North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to: Canada * North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay * North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay * North Harbour, ...

against

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, while on loan. Weeks later, McCartney made his debut for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. McCartney made a total of 94 appearances for Auckland between 2007 and 2014, scoring five tries. In his final season, McCartney was the province's most capped player and captained the side.

Super Rugby

In 2008 McCartney was given a place in 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 ...

squad, making his debut from the bench in a match against the Chiefs. In April 2009, McCartney made his first start for the team, this coming against 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 ...

. McCartney made 64 appearances for the Blues and scored two tries, before leaving for Ireland in 2014.

Connacht

In 2014, McCartney signed a three-year deal with Irish provincial side

. He joined the side for the 2014–15 season, but did not link up with the squad until after Auckland had finished in the

2014 ITM Cup The 2014 ITM Cup season was the ninth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 14, when Taranaki (National Provincial Championship), Taranaki hosted Count ...

. Auckland were knocked out in the semi-finals of the competition on 18 October, and McCartney made his debut for Connacht on 21 November, coming on as a replacement against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

in the

2014–15 Pro12 The 2014–15 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the fifth with its current four-country format. It was ...

. McCartney made a further 14 appearances in the league all of them coming as starts. He made his European debut on 6 December 2014 against

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

in the 2014–15 Challenge Cup, and made three more appearances in the competition, all of them starts. Having celebrated his 50th Connacht appearance with a Man of the Match performance and two tries against Benetton Treviso in the Guinness PRO12, McCartney secured his place at Sportsground with a 3-year extension until at least the summer of 2020. He became a strong fan favourite was part of coach Pat Lam's PRO12 title-winning team in 2016 and along with 7 of his team-mates was selected for the PRO12 Dream Team of the season by PRO14 players. McCartney also started in Connacht's final game of the season, a

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

with

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

for entry to the 2015–16 Champions Cup, which Connacht lost after extra time. On 22 March 2019, McCartney earned his 100th cap for the province. He went on to play in his final year for Connacht in the 2019/20 season which was unexpectedly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He played his last game for Connacht starting against Toulouse in Heineken Champions Cup at The Sportsground on 11 Jan 2020. His contract ended in June 2020.

References

External links

Auckland Rugby Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCartney, Tom 1985 births Living people Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Connacht Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Ireland New Zealand rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Auckland Rugby union props