Colin Richard Slade (born 10 October 1987) is a retired

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 ...

professional

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. He played primarily at

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, as well as all other backline positions on occasions. He was first selected for 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 ...

in 2009. He was a key 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 team. He was also included in the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, but played in only one match against

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. He thus became one of only 20 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions.

Playing career

School boy rugby

While at

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven R ...

, Slade played two years for the 1st XV, winning two National titles in both years playing alongside fellow All Blacks

Matt Todd Matthew Brendon Todd (born 24 March 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who plays as an Openside Flanker for the Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Japanese Top League competition. Todd played 25 tests for New Zealand internationally, from ...

and

Owen Franks Owen Thomas Franks (born 23 December 1987) is a New Zealand rugby player who currently plays for Hurricanes (rugby union), Hurricanes in the Super Rugby competition. His usual position is tighthead prop. Franks has previously represented the C ...

as well as former Crusaders players

Nasi Manu Tavake Lecanus Liukanasi Manu (born 15 August 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays in the number 8 and occasionally flanker position for Mitre 10 Cup side, Otago. Manu also represents Tonga at international level. Playing career ...

and

Tim Bateman Timothy Edward Sullivan Bateman (born 3 June 1987) is a rugby union player from New Zealand. He plays mostly Inside Centre. He was head boy of Christchurch Boys' High School in Canterbury, New Zealand. He formerly played for the Crusaders and ...

Provincial Rugby

Slade made his debut for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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, Kent, River Stour. ...

playing first five in 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 ...

, and scored 86 points for his side as Canterbury won the competition. His performances improved substantially as the season progressed and with

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...

unavailable and

Stephen Brett Stephen Brett (born 23 November 1985) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He is the head coach for Rugby ATL in Major League Rugby (MLR). Playing career Brett is a versatile back whose preferred position is first five-eighth, although he can ...

injured, Slade became the first choice 10 for the Canterbury side. 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 ...

, Slade shifted to fullback as Stephen Brett was again healthy and reclaimed the number 10 jersey. Despite the shift in position, Slade didn't miss a beat as he started 14 games as one of the leading fullbacks in the competition, scoring 4 tries over the course of the season (including two outstanding tries in the final) as Canterbury again emerged champions. For the 2010 ITM Cup, Slade reclaimed the starting first five position for Canterbury – along with first-choice goal-kicking duties – and emerged as one of the most dominant players in the competition. Despite missing games while with the

, Slade scored 152 points in just 11 starts to finish 2nd in the competition to

Lachie Munro Lachlan Hamish Munro (born 27 November 1986) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Munro is a versatile player and he is capable of covering every position in the backline. Munro attended Auckland Grammar School. In 2007 Munro pla ...

. He also led Canterbury to their third consecutive title, sealing victory in the final against

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

with a fine individual try.

Super Rugby

Slade's performance in the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup caught the eye of

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 ...

coach

Todd Blackadder Todd Blackadder (born 20 September 1971) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and professional rugby coach. He captained the national team, the All Blacks 14 times playing a total of 25 games and 12 tests. Blackadder captained the Crusad ...

who included Slade into the squad for the 2009 season. Playing mainly out of position on the wing, he emerged as a regular member of the squad, making 11 starts as well as a substitute appearance in the semi-final against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

. For 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, fea ...

, Slade was shifted to fullback, as he had been in the previous Air New Zealand Cup. His season was highlighted by a 21-point performance against the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

on 20 March and his first Super Rugby try against the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also ...

on 20 April. In an effort to get more playing time at his favoured position of

, Slade transferred to the Highlanders for 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 ...

. However, his season would be blighted by injury, beginning with a broken jaw suffered in a preseason game that ruled him out of the first 5 matches of the competition. After three solid performances in Highlander victories, he suffered a second broken jaw in his third game back, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Slade's terrible luck with injuries continued into 2012 as his season was again cut short after suffering a broken leg in March against the Brumbies in Canberra. After the unsuccessful Highlanders 2013 season, Slade decided to return to the Crusaders for 2014. With Carter away for much of the season, Slade took claim of the no.10 jersey for the season and showed great form throughout the competition. His goal kicking was particularly strong kicking at 82% and totalling 198 points for the season. Despite Carter's return, Slade's form was such that he managed to retain the number 10 jersey with Carter playing in the no.12 jersey. The Crusaders would later, however, lose the final to the Waratahs in Sydney. The 2015 super rugby season was another strong season for Slade managing again to establish himself as the number 10 for the Crusaders. However, the Crusaders' season would not go to plan, failing to make the playoffs.

International Rugby

A former member of New Zealand U-19 and U-21 sides, Slade was selected for the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

side for the

2009 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2009 Pacific Nations Cup is a rugby union tournament held between five national sides on the Pacific Rim: Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the Junior All Blacks. The New Zealand Māori team that won the tournament last year will no longer take pa ...

scoring 30 points including a try against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. On the back of that solid performance, he was selected into the

training squad for the third leg of the

Tri Nations Series The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a s ...

although he didn't see any game action. In 2010, Slade was called up again as a replacement for injured fly-half

for the

final match in the 2010 Tri-Nations against the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

on 11 September. He made his All Black debut off the bench in the 60th minute coming on as a replacement for

Aaron Cruden Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Chiefs and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is first five-eighth (fly half). Early life Crud ...

. Slade then made a mark in New Zealand's friendly against Fiji in July 2011. He scored a try, two penalties and four conversions for the All Blacks. He then played in New Zealand's opening Tri-Nations game against South Africa and scored New Zealand's sixth try of the match, resulting in victory by 40–7. He came on as a substitute in New Zealand's next match against Australia. He got his first Tri-Nations start against South Africa in the All Blacks penultimate game. He was selected for the

and came on as a substitute in the opening match where he scored a conversion after

Ma'a Nonu Ma'a Allan Nonu (; born 21 May 1982) is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing. H ...

's try. After

injured his groin and was forced out of the

it was announced that Slade would become the

starting fly-half for the remainder of the World Cup. After having a 'horror' Tri-Nations game against the Springboks and an 'ordinary' first World Cup game, the public of

initially doubted the ability of Slade to perform in Carters absence. However, Coach Graham Henry voiced his trust in Slade, urging the New Zealand supporters to give him their full support. Slade then aggravated a groin tear injury during the Argentina game and was ruled out of the rest of the Cup. During the 2014 game against the Springboks at Ellis Park Slade played in the unfamiliar position of halfback due to injury to the replacement halfback

Tawera Kerr-Barlow Tawera Narada James Kerr-Barlow (born 15 August 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand rugby union rugby player . His regular playing position is scrum-half. He plays for La Rochelle in the Top 14. Kerr-Barlow represented New Zealand under 20 ...

. He also kicked a last minute conversion in the All Blacks final Bledisloe Cup match against Australia in Brisbane. Slade was also called into the End of Year Tour and started a test match on the right wing and also made a strong appearance from bench in the All Blacks final game against Wales in Cardiff. In 2015 Slade was named in the 2015 World Cup All Black squad only playing against Namibia on the road to winning the title.

Club Rugby

On 14 April 2015, it was announced Slade had signed a two-year deal with French

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

side Pau as the team was promoted to

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 ...

. Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

References

External links

Canterbury player profile

Crusaders player profile

All Blacks player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, Colin 1987 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Highlanders (rugby union) players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union players from Christchurch People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Barbarian F.C. players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Section Paloise players Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars players