Andrew Francis Blowers (born 27 March 1975) is a

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 ...

player who played for

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He played for the

New Zealand national rugby union team 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 ...

between 1996 and 1999 in which he had played 11 tests and 7 games. His position is flanker. Bristol announced the signing of the former All Black to boost their push for Heineken Cup qualification following the loss of

Dan Ward-Smith Daniel Ward-Smith (born 2 January 1978) is a former New Zealand-born English rugby union player who played at number eight for Bristol & London Wasps. He also covered flanker and second row, which made him a useful forward to have in the Wasps ...

to injury.

International career

Blowers was born in

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 ...

, New Zealand. As a result of his Samoan heritage, he started his international career for the

Samoa national rugby union team The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...

. Blowers' scored on his All Blacks debut on Tuesday, 6 August 1996, versus Boland Invitation XV at Worcester. Four days later he received his first international cap versus South Africa at Cape Town. After 18 All Black matches he played his final game against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on Thursday, 14 October 1999. Of his 11 competitive tests the All Blacks won 10, their only loss coming at the hands 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 ...

. Blowers is no longer eligible to play for All Blacks because he no longer plays in New Zealand.

References

External links

Andrew Blowers stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blowers, Andrew 1975 births Living people New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Rugby union players from Auckland Northampton Saints players Bristol Bears players New Zealand rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Rugby union flankers Melbourne Rebels coaches