David George Hall (born 16 April 1980) 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 its m ...

player. He predominantly played as a hooker. He comes from a rugby background being the grand nephew of former

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, ...

and

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 Reg ...

legend

Les George Victor Leslie George (5 June 1908 – 10 August 1996) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He was born in Winton, New Zealand. His playing position was Prop. Les or 'Tussock' as he was known, played 3 tests for the All Blacks on the 1938 to ...

Early rugby career

Hall started his career as a loose forward before becoming a hooker in 2002. Hall gained his 50th cap playing for Southland against Tasman on 16 September 2006. He still occasionally plays Number 8 for the

Stags Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

due to

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 for ...

having recently cemented the hooker role for both the

and for the Highlanders in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. It was announced Hall would play his 2012 NPC rugby for the Northland Taniwha at the opposite end of the country.

Knee reconstruction

He was forced out of the 2010 Super 14 season with a knee injury sustained in the 2009 Ranfurly Shield Win against

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. ...

. His knee was later reconstructed and along with a shoulder operation the rehabilitation process was expected to take up to nine months.

Wrights Bush revival

During his long injury period Hall will attempt to help re-establish the Wrights Bush Rugby Club where he played most of his junior rugby. They will enter a senior team for the first time since 1995 and he is expected to assist with the coaching duties.

Later rugby career

Hall played in his last NPC game for Southland on 10 October 2015 in a 39–20 loss against

at AMI Stadium coming off the bench as a substitute. He will presumably retire from playing Rugby Union.

References

External links

Southland Rugby Profile

Hurricanes profile
1980 births Living people People educated at Southland Boys' High School Highlanders (rugby union) players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Crusaders (rugby union) players Southland rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Southland, New Zealand {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub