Craig Ivan Green, (born 23 March 1961) is a New Zealand born international rugby union footballer turned coach. He was part of the 1987 Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks team. He played provincial rugby for Mid-Canterbury and Canterbury, the New Zealand Colts and went on the rebel New Zealand Cavaliers 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 Canterbury, where he won the National Provincial Championship 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 to move from the mid-field to the wing as Canterbury also had

Warwick Taylor Warwick Thomas Taylor (born 11 March 1960) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He won 24 caps for the All Blacks between 1983 and 1988 and played in the victorious New Zealand team at the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Since retiring from rugb ...

and

Victor Simpson Victor Lenard James Simpson (born 26 February 1960) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A Rugby union positions#Centre, centre, Simpson represented Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union, Poverty Bay briefly and then Canterbury Rugby Football U ...

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 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 All Black

John Kirwan John Kirwan may refer to: * John Óge Kirwan (fl. 1530–1531), mayor of Galway * Sir John Kirwan (1650–1721), Irish entrepreneur * John Kirwan (cricketer) (1816–1899), English cricketer * John Kirwan (politician) (1869–1949), Australian ...

, 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.

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* {{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