Craig Ivan Green, (born 23 March 1961) is a New Zealand born international

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 ...

footballer turned coach. He was part of the 1987 Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks team. He played provincial rugby for

Mid-Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

and

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 ...

, the New Zealand Colts and went on the rebel

New Zealand Cavaliers The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and th ...

tour of South Africa in 1986. He finished off his career in Italy.

New Zealand rugby career

Green started his provincial career in the mid-field for Mid-Canterbury. He then moved to Christchurch and played for

, where he won the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

in 1983 and was one of the key players during Canterbury's 1982-1985 Ranfurly Shield era. While at Canterbury he was asked by the coach,

Alex Wyllie Alexander John "Grizz" Wyllie (born 30 August 1944) is a New Zealand rugby union former player and coach. Playing career Wyllie began his rugby career playing for Glenmark Rugby Club, in North Canterbury. During his first-class career he playe ...

to move from the mid-field to the wing as Canterbury also had Warwick Taylor and Victor Simpson in the squad. Although not as fast as some top-level wingers, his skills and try-scoring ability saw him succeed at provincial level as well as leading to him gaining selection for the All Blacks. He played 39 times (including 20 test matches) 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, ...

from 1983 until 1987, with the highlight of his career being winning the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. He scored six tries in the 1987 world cup including 4 tries against Fiji. He then "walked away" from New Zealand rugby at 26 because of the low compensation despite the time and commitment required. Green scored 110 tries in his 160 first class games in or for New Zealand provincial or national teams.

Italian playing career

From 1985 to 1989 he played in Italy, at Benetton Treviso, club where he won the Italian championship in 1989. One of his partners in the Italian team was the

John Kirwan, Green's teammate in the 1987 World Cup won by the New Zealanders. In 1991 he moved to Casale, where he played until 1994.

Coaching career

Green coached schoolboy rugby at Brisbane Boys' College in Brisbane, Australia. Between 2002 and 2007 he came back to Italy, to coach his former player days team Benetton Treviso. With the Italian club he had a hugely successful era; achieving the national title in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007, and the Coppa Italia in 2005.

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Craig 1961 births Living people Rugby union wings New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at Shirley Boys' High School