Luke McAlister

Last updated

Luke McAlister
Luke McAlister 2016.jpg
McAlister in 2016
Birth nameCharles Luke McAlister
Date of birth (1983-08-28) 28 August 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Waitara, Taranaki, New Zealand
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight93 kg (14 st 9 lb)
School Westlake Boys High School
Notable relative(s) Charlie McAlister (father)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Centre, Fullback
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
Silverdale United R.F.C [1] ()
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2002–2011 North Harbour 52 (461)
2004–2011 Blues 51 (389)
2007–2009 Sale Sharks 36 (204)
2011–2017 Toulouse 143 (806)
2017–2018 Toulon 4 (6)
2018 Clermont 9 (18)
2019 Shimizu Blue Sharks 4 (7)
Correct as of 22 February 2021
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2002–2004 New Zealand Colts 8 (67)
2005–2009 New Zealand 31 (153)
2005 Junior All Blacks 3 (17)
2005–2010 New Zealand Māori 5 (38)
Correct as of 1 July 2018

Charles Luke McAlister (born 28 August 1983 in Waitara) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played at fly-half and at centre. He is the brother of New Zealand women's sevens player Kayla McAlister and son of rugby league footballer Charlie McAlister.

Contents

Career

McAlister kicking a conversion for Toulouse against Castres on 10 March 2012 ST vs CO 2012-03-10 - 42 - Conversion kick by Luke McAlister.jpg
McAlister kicking a conversion for Toulouse against Castres on 10 March 2012

McAlister was born in Waitara, New Zealand, and attended Westlake Boys High School, where he played first five-eighth. He played for Silverdale in the North Harbour premier competition before making his provincial debut for North Harbour in 2002 and Super Rugby debut for the Blues in 2004. He made his international debut for New Zealand aged 21, versus the British and Irish Lions in 2005.

In June 2006, his father, Charlie, resigned his position as head coach of the Manawatu team in the Air New Zealand Cup. Charlie McAlister is a former rugby league footballer, and Luke McAlister lived in the Manchester area from the age of four to 13 while his father played rugby league for Oldham, Castleford and the Sheffield Eagles, during which time Luke was a member of the Manchester United Academy. [2]

Following the announcement of his inclusion in the All Blacks squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, it was announced on 23 July 2007 that McAlister would be joining Guinness Premiership side Sale Sharks after the World Cup on a two-year deal. It was also reported that he had turned down offers from both Munster and Toulouse to join Sale. [3]

McAlister played in four of the All Blacks' five matches at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, including the 20–18 quarter-final loss to France, in which he was controversially sent to the sin bin for an obstruction. France converted the resulting penalty, and the sin-binning was cited by many New Zealand fans as one of the reasons why their team lost the match. Over the course of the tournament, McAlister accumulated a total of 17 points.

In 2009 after two seasons with Sale in the Guinness Premiership, McAlister returned to New Zealand, where he re-signed with North Harbour and the Blues, with the intention of regaining his place in the national side. He appeared for the All Blacks as a substitute for Stephen Donald against France in Wellington on 20 June 2009. [4]

From August 2011, McAlister played for Stade Toulousain in France's Top 14 championship. [5] On his first season with Toulouse, he won the Bouclier de Brennus. He played a crucial role in it, scoring all of his team's points during the final. [6] [7] [8]

On 12 May 2017, McAlister left Toulouse to sign for former Top 14 champions Toulon ahead of the 2017–18 season. [9]

Post-playing Career

Since retiring, McAlister returned to Westlake Boys High School as a teacher and coach.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stade Toulousain</span> French rugby union club, based in Toulouse

Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Harbour Rugby Union</span> Sports club

The North Harbour Rugby Union (NHRU), commonly known as North Harbour or simply Harbour, is the governing body of rugby union that encompasses a wide geographical area north of Auckland that includes North Shore City, Rodney District, the Hibiscus Coast and part of Waitakere City. There are 12 rugby clubs from Mahurangi RFC, based in Warkworth, Rodney District, in the north through to Massey the southernmost area of the union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathew Tait</span> England international rugby union player

Mathew James Murray Tait is a retired English rugby union player who gained 38 caps for England between 2005–2010, including starting in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final; and played 279 club games for Newcastle Falcons, Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers between 2004 and 2018. He was considered a utility back regularly playing at centre, fullback or wing. Tait made his Newcastle debut in 2004 and made his England debut at 18 years old in 2005, at the time the second youngest England player selected since the second World War. He played 87 times for Newcastle before joining Sale in 2008 where he played 49 times. Tait joined Leicester in 2011 and made 143 appearances between his 2011 debut and retirement. Whilst at Leicester Tait started the 2013 Premiership Rugby Final which Leicester won as well as the 2017 Anglo-Welsh Cup Final, which Leicester also won. His final game was on 5 May 2018 against former club Sale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Sheridan</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Andrew John Sheridan is a retired English rugby union player who played as a loosehead prop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RC Toulon</span> French rugby union club

Rugby Club Toulonnais, also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its home games at the 17,500-capacity Stade Mayol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westlake Boys High School</span> School

Westlake Boys High School is a state secondary school for boys in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and Westlake Boys High School on a new site. Serving Years 9 to 13, the college has 2698 students as of August 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Ashton</span> England dual-code rugby international footballer

Christopher John Ashton is a retired English rugby union and former rugby league footballer, and one of the few players who have represented England in both rugby codes. Ashton primarily played wing and secondarily played fullback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ma'a Nonu</span> New Zealand rugby union player

Ma'a Allan Nonu is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing.

Philippe Georges Saint-André is a former French rugby union footballer and was most recently the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier. He earned 69 test caps for France between 1990 and 1997. His preferred position was wing but he could also play at centre. After retiring, Saint-André has found success as a rugby coach in both England and France. He was serving as director of rugby at Toulon before being announced as the successful candidate for head coach of France from 2011 to 2015. He formally took charge of the national team on 1 December 2011, and left his post on 17 October 2015 following a 13–62 loss to New Zealand.

Greg Rawlinson is a New Zealand international rugby union player. Rawlinson, who has made four appearances for the All Blacks, was born in South Africa and moved to New Zealand in 2002. The second row rejected overtures from the Springboks to remain in All Black contention and was rewarded with a call-up to face Ireland in June 2006. He became only the second ever South African-born All Black, the other being Andrew Mehrtens who was also born in Durban.

Mitre Sports International Ltd., mostly known as Mitre, is an English sports equipment manufacturer based in Wakefield. Mitre is mainly focused on association football but also providing equipment for other sports. Having founded in 1817 in Huddersfield, the company is one of the oldest of its type in the world. Mitre is currently a subsidiary of the British family–owned Pentland Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Braid</span> Rugby player

Daniel John Braid is a former rugby union player from New Zealand who captained Sale Sharks in the English Premiership. He played at open-side flanker. Previously, he played for the Blues in Super Rugby. He also won six full caps for the All Blacks between 2002 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Kaino</span> New Zealand rugby union player

Jerome Kaino is a former New Zealand rugby union player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sale Sharks</span> Professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England.

Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, it is one of the oldest existing football clubs. It adopted the nickname Sharks in 1999.

Charlie McAlister is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer who played as a professional in England and Australia.

Howard Kevin Tamati, generally known as Howie Tamati, is a New Zealand politician and former professional rugby league footballer and coach who played for New Zealand. He is the cousin of fellow international Kevin Tamati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayla McAlister</span> Rugby player

Kayla Ahki is a former New Zealand netball and international rugby sevens sevens player. She played for the Northern Mystics in 2011, and a training partner in 2012, before switching to rugby. She was member of the NZ Women's Rugby Sevens team from 2012 to 2017, during which time the team won the Women's Sevens Series three times, the 2013 World Cup and silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. McAlister was named the World Rugby Women's Player of the Year. With her selection she won the On an individual level, she was named the world's best rugby sevens player in 2013.

Sean Alfred Uilisi Halaholo is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a centre for the Cardiff Rugby and the Wales national team. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, to parents of Tongan descent, he qualified to play for Wales on residency grounds after moving to the country in 2016. Earlier that year, he was part of the Hurricanes team that won its first ever Super Rugby title.

The history of Sale Sharks dates back to the club's founding in 1861 and is one of the oldest clubs in English rugby. Throughout their history, the Sale Sharks have been one of the leading rugby union clubs in the North of England.

The North Harbour Rugby Union club rugby title has been contested since the formation of the North Harbour Rugby Union in New Zealand in 1985. The current trophy awarded to the winner is the ASB Bank Cup. The Premier Grade championship cup has also been named the New Zealand Couriers Cup The current champions are North Shore RFC. The Reserve Grade Championship Cup is named the "Stuart Cup" after North Shore Rugby Club stalwart Jim Stuart who donated the Cup to the North Harbour Rugby Union in 1985. From 1985 to 1996 Harbour club finals were contested at Onewa Domain. Since 1997 all Club finals have been held at North Harbour Stadium. Club finals are usually held in July.

References

  1. ↑ "Silverdale United Rugby Football Club – International Honours". Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Mortimer, Gavin (November 2007). "Headline makers: Luke McAlister". Rugby World (569): 78–79.
  3. ↑ "All Black McAlister to join Sale". BBC Sport. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
  4. ↑ "All Blacks level series in slugfest" (Press release). All Blacks. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "McAlister confirms Toulouse switch". ESPN. 17 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "McAlister kicks Toulouse into final". Planet Rugby. 2 June 2012. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Toulouse defend Top 14 title". Planet Rugby. 12 June 2012. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Luke McAlister Profile". Itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "Former All-Black fly-half Luke McAlister leaves Toulouse for Toulon next season". New Zealand: Stuff. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.