Christopher King (born 30 April 1981) is a New Zealand

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 for the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan. His position is tighthead prop. Three years ago he returned from France with his daughters Chloe and Alexis.

Early life

King was born in Ashburton. He attended St Andrew's College from 1995 to 1999 during which time he played for the First XV for three years. King captained the team in his final year.

Career

Provincial rugby

King started his career in 2002 for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

and was a regular in the squad throughout 2003 and 2004. After the 2004 NPC he was loaned to the Highlanders and Otago. After the 2005 Super 12, King transferred permanently to Otago. With the departure of Clarke Dermody prior to the

2008 Air New Zealand Cup The 2008 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 31 July 2008, and continued until the final on 25 October 2008. This season was the third of the expanded co ...

, King was approached by

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

and chose to transfer further south to

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

. He along with

Mackintosh The Mackintosh or raincoat (abbreviated as mac) is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made of rubberised fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh, although many writers added a letter ''k' ...

and

Jason Rutledge Jason Rutledge (born 15 December 1977) is a New Zealand rugby union player who played provincial rugby for Southland, and was in the Super Rugby team the Highlanders. Rutledge is widely known as New Zealands best hooker to have never played fo ...

made up a formidable front row and the team reaching their first ever semi-final of the Air New Zealand Cup. He continued his strong play for Southland in the

2009 Air New Zealand Cup 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 ...

as the squad reached their 2nd consecutive semi-final, and proved a monumental figure in their week 14

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

win against his former

team. In the

2010 ITM Cup The 2010 ITM Cup season was the fifth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 29, when Taranaki hosted Northland. It involved the top fourteen rugby unio ...

, King joined the rest of his teammates in producing a string of stellar performances during the Stags' extended defence of the Ranfurly Shield.

Super Rugby

King's good form for

resulted in selection for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, appearing in three games during the

2003 Super 12 season The 2003 Super 12 season was the eighth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2003, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular sea ...

as the Crusaders were beaten in the final by the Blues. The following year he played in all 13 matches, mainly off the bench, serving as backup to 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, ...

props Greg Somerville and Dave Hewitt who were the regular starters for the club. King was loaned to the Highlanders for the 2005 Super 12, but only appeared in 1 match for just 3 minutes. He then transferred permanently to Otago and the Highlanders. He made more of an impression as the Highlanders moved into the Super 14 era in 2006 as he became a regular reserve prop, once again behind two

in Carl Hayman and Clarke Dermody. In

2007 Super 14 The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. Th ...

, injuries and the fitness program in the run-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup (which rested top All Blacks for the first half of the season) saw King receive 7 starts for the Highlanders, his highest total in Super Rugby. After the season both Hayman and Dermody left to play in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

leaving

Jamie Mackintosh Jamie Mackintosh (born 20 February 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player currently playing for the Austin Gilgronis in Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for Section Paloise in the French Top 14 competition. He wa ...

and King as probable starters. King started the

2008 Super 14 season The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...

as the Highlanders' regular tighthead prop, but the emergence of

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

giant Clint Newland pushed King once again to the bench as the season went along. The

2009 Super 14 season The 2009 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2009 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 30 May, when the Bulls won their second Super Rugby title with a decisive 61–17 victory over the Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld stad ...

saw more of the same, although injuries to Mackintosh and Newland saw King receive another 6 starts. King again started the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, feat ...

as the 3rd choice at prop for the Highlanders behind Mackintosh and Newland, but injury to Mackintosh saw him start the last 6 games of the season, his longest stretch of continuous starts in Super Rugby. During the season, he also joined the select group of players who have made 50 appearances for the franchise. In the

2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

, King had the finest year of his career, starting 13 matches for the Highlanders as the first-choice tighthead prop. As of the conclusion of that season, he sits 3rd all-time in appearances at prop for the franchise, behind only Carl Hayman and

Carl Hoeft Carl Henry Hoeft (born 13 November 1974, in Auckland) is a former rugby union footballer from New Zealand, currently working as coach. His usual position was at loosehead prop. He was a part of the New Zealand national rugby union team squad at b ...

Top 14

In 2014, Chris King signed a deal to join French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side Montpellier. In May 2015 French

side Pau, announced the signing of King for the 2015–2016 season.

References

External links

Highlanders Profile
on ''itsrugby.co.uk''. {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Chris 1981 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Otago rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Taranaki rugby union players Southland rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union players from Ashburton, New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Montpellier Hérault Rugby players People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch