Xavier Joseph Rush (born 13 July 1977, in

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 ...

) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

footballer. He is a former All Black number eight and second row, and played professional rugby in Wales for

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

where he is the former captain.

Career

Rush played domestic rugby with

in the

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 ...

and Super 12 side 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 ...

between 1997 and 2005. He won the NPC Competition with Auckland in 2002 and the Super 12 with the Auckland Blues in 2003. He later captained both of these sides until the end of his contract with

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

where he managed to lift 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 ...

with Auckland in 2003. During his secondary school years, he maintained a place in the centenary 1st XV, playing, of course, at number 8. Despite a successful domestic rugby career, Rush never shone at international level, having only eight All Black test caps to his name. He was only 21 when he made his test debut against the Wallabies in 1998. He would later play for the All Blacks during the 2004 Tri-Nations, 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 ...

and also the Pacific Islanders. On 7 February 2010, Rush signed a two-year contract with

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

. Having sacked his agent he subsequently entered talks with the Cardiff Blues and Ulster about his future. On 27 May 2010, it was announced that Rush would remain at Cardiff but would have to compensate Ulster to cancel his contract. Rush retired from playing at the end of the 2011–12 season and took up a coaching role with Cardiff Blues.

References

External links

Cardiff profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rush, Xavier 1977 births New Zealand international rugby union players Cardiff Rugby players Living people Auckland rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Rugby union number eights People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland Barbarian F.C. players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Wales Rugby union players from Auckland