Anthony Frank Boric (born 27 December 1983 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 ...

) 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 represented the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in international rugby, and was a member of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

winning All Blacks squad. He played as a

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 ...

Early and personal life

Boric is a second-generation New Zealander of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n descent. His grandfather, from whom Boric acquired his middle name, hailed from the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

region. He attended school at Rosmini College in

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

where he played first XV rugby. Boric then studied Civil Engineering at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

,http://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/alumni/shared/publications/at-auckland/july08.pdf and in 2008, the final year of his degree, received news of his inclusion in the All Black squad when he heard his name read out on the radio.

Rugby career

Boric started playing rugby on the wing, but as he grew rapidly in his teenage years he switched into the second row, and also played as a loose forward. In his early days at North Harbour and the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, Boric alternated between the role of lock and blindside flank before deciding to concentrate on the former position. After making his first appearance as an

All Black 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, ...

coming on as a substitute against England on 13 June 2008, Boric's first match as part of the starting line-up was against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, replacing the suspended Brad Thorn. Boric scored his first Test try versus Scotland on 8 November 2008 AB played his last

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) ...

for

side during the winning

campaign. He played 4 matches during the tournament, all of which were from the reserve bench.

References

External links

All Blacks Profile

Blues Profile

North Harbour Profile

Super Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boric, Anthony 1983 births Living people Blues (Super Rugby) players New Zealand rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players Rugby union locks New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand people of Croatian descent People educated at Rosmini College Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars players University of Auckland alumni