 |
| Full name | William Tukotahi Clinton Rickards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 June 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rotorua, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 104 kg (229 lb; 16 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Auckland Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Massey University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William Tukotahi Clinton Rickards (born 8 June 1984 in Rotorua, New Zealand) is a New Zealand professional rugby union coach who is an assistant coach for the provincial ITM Cup side, Taranaki.
Rickards moved south from the North Island to make his provincial debut for Southland during the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup. He spent three seasons with the province and made 31 total appearances, the majority off the bench. He also had a brief stint with the Highlanders during the 2007 Super 14 season, making two substitute appearances.
For the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup, Rickards moved back north to join Taranaki, but was ruled out for the majority of the season due to a hand injury. In August 2011, he made his first start for Taranaki since 2009 in helping the province claim the Ranfurly Shield from his former club, Southland. As well as Ranfurly Shield success, Rickards also had appearances as Taranaki captain.
Rickards began his coaching career as a coaching development manager for the Taranaki Rugby Union. He partook in sevens coaching where he led Taranaki to their first national sevens title in Queenstown 2013. He also took the side to be 2014 semi-finalists and 2015 plate champions as well as being 2014 champions, 2013 runners-up and 2012 third-place winners in their central region sevens tournament campaigns.
Rickards earned his first fifteen aside head coaching role with the Hawera based rugby club Southern, making history with the side after leading them to their first senior A title since the club's inception in 1995. In 2015 Rickards took over as assistant coach for Taranaki in Leo Crowley's absence.
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 2006 season, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
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.
Rugby Southland is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the union's professional team, the Southland Stags who compete in the Mitre 10 Cup Championship Division and challenge for the Ranfurly Shield.
Justin Warren Marshall is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005.
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design. The CRFU govern the running of the Canterbury representative team which have won New Zealand's first-tier domestic competition National Provincial Championship 14 times including a "six-peat" from 2008 to 2013 – with five in the National Provincial Championship, two in the Air New Zealand Cup, five in the ITM Cup and one in the Mitre 10 Cup. Their most recent victory was the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup. Canterbury also acts as a primary feeder to the Crusaders, who play in the Super Rugby competition.
The Tasman Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, a bay at the north end of the South Island in New Zealand. Headquartered in Nelson, TRU is New Zealand's newest provincial union, founded in 2006 with the amalgamation of the existing Marlborough and Nelson Bays sub unions.
The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in the ITM Cup, New Zealand's top provincial competition. The union was to have been liquidated in March 2012. However a deal involving the Dunedin City Council allowed it to keep operating. Otago have won the Ranfurly Shield on seven occasions. They were the National provincial championship winners in 1991 and 1998. They have a proud record playing international teams, having defeated South Africa and the British and Irish Lions.
Paul Lane Penn was a New Zealand rugby union player, coach and administrator. A wing, Penn played for Taranaki and Wairarapa at provincial level, and later became coach of Wairarapa-Bush. He was an All Black selector from 1988 to 1991, and served as president of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union from 2001 to 2003.
The Waikato Rugby Union (WRU) is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Headquartered in Hamilton, WRU was founded in 1921.
The Manawatu Rugby Football Union (MRU) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand.
Taranaki Rugby, previously the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Taranaki, New Zealand; Taranaki is a region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of New Plymouth and South Taranaki. Established in 1889, they represent the Mitre 10 Cup side, Taranaki Bulls, and Farah Palmer Cup side, Taranaki Whio. It is also affiliated with the Chiefs Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are amber and black and they play their home games at TET Stadium & Events Centre in Inglewood.
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, was an annual promotion and relegation rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 1976 season, it was the highest level of competition in New Zealand until Super Rugby launched in 1996. It was organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and ceased following the 2005 season.
Ben Herring is a professional rugby coach who served as head coach of the Otago rugby team until the 2020 season. Herring has coached two national sides, Canada and Japan, and two super franchises Highlanders and Sunwolves.
Colin Gary Cooper is a New Zealand professional rugby union coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the Chiefs. Cooper is a NPC champion and two-time Ranfurly Shield holder, winning with the Taranaki union as a head coach. Cooper has coached the Māori All Blacks to three undefeated tours and won the IRB U21 World Cup with the New Zealand under-21 side. He also accomplished 101 games played for Taranaki.
Kurt Baker is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a fullback or wing for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby (MLR).
The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November. It was also the last edition of the provincial competition to use the Air New Zealand Cup name, as the competition's sponsorship contract with Air New Zealand ended after that season. The 2010 competition will be held under a new name, the ITM Cup.
The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand, which was run as a round-robin tournament from 30 July to 25 October. There were 13 rounds where every team played each other once. The top four teams on the Air New Zealand Cup table advanced to the semi-finals, where they played for a chance in the Grand Final.
Michael Bent is a New Zealand born rugby union player who can play as a tight or loosehead prop. He played for Leinster in the Pro14 and represented Ireland at international level.
Jackson Tamati Ormond is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays in the wing position for the provincial Mitre 10 Cup side, Taranaki. He has also represented New Zealand in sevens rugby since 2010.
John Ricky Riccitelli is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a hooker for New Zealand franchise Blues. In his youth career, he was selected to play in the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championships for New Zealand and took part in Francis Douglas Memorial College first XV.