Blake Gibson (born 19 April 1995) is a
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 ...
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 it ...
player who currently plays as a
loose forward for in the
ITM Cup and the in
Super Rugby.
Early career
Born in Auckland, Gibson attended
Saint Kentigern College
Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in the suburb of Pakuranga on the eastern side of Auckland, New Zealand, beside the Tamaki Estuary. It is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board which also ...
in the city and captained their first XV to victory in their local 1A championship. This led to his selection in the Blues Development XV later in the year.
Senior career
Gibson joined the Auckland
ITM Cup team in his first year out of school and made a total of 9 appearances in his first full season scoring 2 tries. Named again to play in the Auckland side for the
2015 ITM Cup
Fifteen or 15 may refer to:
*15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16
*one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015
Music
* Fifteen (band), a punk rock band
Albums
* ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005
* ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...
, he started the opening game of the season at openside flanker, but suffered a knee injury in the first ten minutes that kept him out for the duration of the campaign. The
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
New Zealand domestic season didn't bring much more luck as he mustered 2 tries in 2 matches before again missing the remainder of the year through injury as his Auckland side missed out on the Premiership Play-Offs and finished up in 5th position on the log standings.
Super Rugby
Gibson's first season at provincial level made a big enough impression that he was offered a contract as a member of the wider training squad for the
2015 Super Rugby season
The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...
. He debuted for the Blues against the , on the day before his 20th birthday and was named for his first start against the on 24 May 2015.
The
2016 Super Rugby season saw him earn plenty of game time under new head coach,
Tana Umaga
Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition.
He play ...
. He made 9 appearances, 6 of which were from the start and scored his debut Super Rugby try, making easy work of All Blacks fullback Ben Smith by throwing him and 3 other defenders off.
Despite his injury struggles during the later half of the year, Gibson was again named in the Blues squad for
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
.
Gibson is now in the hurricanes playing number 7.
International
Gibson was named to start for an experienced NZ Barbarians side that played against the Maori All Blacks, shortly after the conclusion of the 2015 Super Rugby Season. Playing at openside flanker, he scored the first try of the game in a standout performance.
He was also a vital member of the
New Zealand under-20 side which won the
2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship
The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...
. He scored 2 tries in 4 championship games and was named player's player of the day on 3 occasions during the tournament.
Gibson was called up to the All Blacks in 2017 as injury cover following Sam Cane's concussion. Gibson has yet to be capped for New Zealand.
Career honours
New Zealand Under-20
*
World Rugby Under 20 Championship
The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...
-
2015
Super Rugby statistics
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Blake
1995 births
Living people
New Zealand rugby union players
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union number eights
Auckland rugby union players
Blues (Super Rugby) players
Rugby union players from Auckland
People educated at Saint Kentigern College
Hurricanes (rugby union) players
Tokyo Sungoliath players