Alan Whetton (born 15 December 1959) also known as ''AJ'' is a former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer who played for New Zealand's national team, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. Whetton first played representative rugby for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1981. He played alongside his twin brother Gary for both Auckland, and later the All Blacks. He played a variety of positions early in his career, playing at number eight and

lock Lock(s) 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 entertainment * ''Lock ...

before playing most often as a flanker. He first played for the All Blacks in 1984 on their tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and played his first

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

on 21 July against

. He toured with the controversial

New Zealand Cavaliers The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and th ...

on their tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1986. He was banned for two matches for participating in the tour, but by 1987 had cemented his place in the All Blacks. As part of a loose forward trio with

Wayne Shelford Sir Wayne Thomas "Buck" Shelford (born 13 December 1957) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer and coach who represented and captained New Zealand (the All Blacks) in the late 1980s. He is also credited with revitalising the performance ...

and Michael Jones that played 13 Tests together, Whetton played throughout the All Blacks victorious

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

campaign of

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. Whetton continued to play for the All Blacks until their semi-final defeat to Australia at the 1991 World Cup. He played for Auckland in 1992, and finished with 150 matches for his province. Following retirement from rugby in New Zealand, he was a player coach for Kobe Steel between 1996 and 1999. He was a commentator for New Zealand's TV3 network during their coverage of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

,. Whetton is currently part of the

Solid Gold (radio) The Sound, earlier known as Solid Gold FM, is a New Zealand radio network owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Solid Gold began broadcasting on 13 October 1997 and was rebranded as The Sound on 1 January 2012. The Sound has a classic rock format, pla ...

breakfast team and is involved in the business of sporting signage. In his personal life, Whetton is married with two daughters.

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whetton, Alan J. 1959 births Auckland rugby union players People educated at Auckland Grammar School Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players West Hartlepool R.F.C. players New Zealand twins Twin sportspeople Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Auckland