Elliot Christopher Dixon (born 4 September 1989) is a 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 represents the Highlanders in the

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 ...

competition 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 ...

in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

, playing at number 8. Dixon is best known for his three test appearances 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 2016.

Early life

Dixon is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and Scottish Ancestry on his father's side and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

on his mother's side. He grew up in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and attended St Bede's College.

Playing career

Provincial rugby

Dixon moved through the age group levels 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. ...

, but transferred to

in late 2009 for a better chance to play in the provincial competition. He made his provincial debut for Southland during 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 ...

, scoring a try on his first appearance in a 37–23 win over Manawatu. He developed into a key member of the team over the course of the season, sharing playing time at number 8 with veteran Samoan international

Kane Thompson Kane Gregory Thompson (born 9 January 1982) is a New Zealand-born Samoan rugby union player. He played for Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup. He currently plays for NOLA Gold in Major League Rugby (MLR). Professional rugby career He debuted for th ...

. In the

2011 ITM Cup The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago hosted North Harbour. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

, Dixon appeared in every match for Southland, and helped the team to a

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 ...

victory over

on 23 July.

Super Rugby

Following his solid season for Southland in 2010, Dixon was included in the Highlanders squad 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 ...

. It would be a difficult season, however, as he didn't make any appearances for the squad due in large part to an elbow injury which left him unavailable for most of the year. Dixon took over as captain of the Highlanders for many games of the 2017 season due to the loss of co-captains

Ash Dixon Ash Dixon (born 1 September 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a hooker for Green Rockets Tokatsu in the Japan Rugby League One. He formerly played for the in Super Rugby and for in New Zealand's domestic Natio ...

and Ben Smith to injury. Dixon had already been required to step up due to the large number of other loose forwards that were injured. Dixon missed the Highlanders' famous 23-22 narrow victory over the touring

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

that season due to his inclusion in the Māori All Blacks, with future All Black captain Luke Whitelock leading the team, and Gareth Evans starting at flanker in Dixon's place. Dixon lost his place in the starting XV to Whitelock by the end of the season.

International play

Dixon was a key member of the squad that won the Under-20 World Cup in 2009, where he suited up alongside current Southland teammates Robbie Robinson,

Brayden Mitchell Brayden Mitchell (born 21 January 1989 in Invercargill, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He plays as a hooker for Southland in the Mitre 10 Cup. Playing career Provincial Rugby Mitchell, a product of the Southland academ ...

, and

Alex Ryan This is a list of characters from the Australian drama series ''McLeod's Daughters''. Main characters Recurring cast Engagements and marriages * Claire McLeod and Peter Johnson were engaged, but Claire ended the relationship when she fou ...

. The longest drop-goal attempt was attempted by Dixon in the final but landed 50 metres short. On 29 May 2016 he was selected as one of three un-capped loose forwards, alongside Highlanders teammate

Liam Squire Liam Ivan John Squire (born 20 March 1991) is a former New Zealand rugby union player from Tokomaru, New Zealand. He played in the Number 8 and Blindside flanker position for Tasman in the Mitre 10 Cup. Squire joined the NTT DoCoMo Red Hurr ...

and Hurricanes flanker

Ardie Savea Ardie Suemalo Savea (born 14 October 1993) is a rugby union player who plays as a flanker or number 8 for in the ITM Cup, the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and international rugby for the New Zealand All Blacks. Savea was a member of New Zealan ...

, in the All Blacks' 32-man squad for a three-test series against Wales. Dixon made his debut for New Zealand at blindside flanker on 25 June 2016 in the third test of the Welsh series, being selected to start over then-69-test veteran

Jerome Kaino Jerome Kaino (born 6 April 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 2004, he was named IRB International Under-21 player of the year. In 2011, he was named the New Zealand Rugby player of the year, finishing ahead of Richie McCaw ...

. Dixon performed well and was replaced by Squire, who was also on debut, in the 55th minute, with the All Blacks winning the test 46-6 and ending the series as a 3-0 clean sweep. Dixon was retained for the All Blacks' 33-man squad for the

2016 Rugby Championship The 2016 Rugby Championship was the fifth edition of the annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' n ...

. The All Blacks won the competition but it was a personal disappointment for Dixon, who only managed four minutes of game time in the competition, mostly due to the dominance of Savea and Squire as replacements off the bench. Those four minutes came on 1 October 2016 when he replaced All Blacks captain

Kieran Read Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of ...

76 minutes into the All Blacks' 36–17 over Argentina. Dixon made one more appearance for New Zealand in 2016, playing the full 80 minutes against Italy on 12 November. Dixon scored his first international try against Italy, scoring in the 62nd minutem while also setting up

Steven Luatua Steve Luatua (born 29 April 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player. His regular playing position is either as a lock or a loose forward. He plays for the Bristol Bears in the English Premiership. Luatua was a member of the New Zealand under ...

for his try. Dixon was not selected for the All Blacks for the Pasifika Challenge against Samoa and three-test 2017 British and Irish Lions series. Dixon's omission from the squad was due to the inclusion of Hurricanes flanker

Vaea Fifita Vaea Tangitau Lapota Fifita (born 17 June 1992) is a Tongan Rugby Union, rugby union player who currently plays for the Scarlets. Previously he was a Lock (rugby union), lock or Flanker (rugby union), loose forward for the in the international ...

. Dixon was also named in the Māori All Blacks' squad to face the Lions on the same day. Dixon started at openside flanker for the Māori All Blacks against the Lions on 17 June and was replaced by

Kara Pryor Kara A. Pryor (born 2 April 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loose forward for Rugby United New York (RUNY) of Major League Rugby (MLR). Senior career Pryor started out his National Provincial Championship ca ...

in the 72nd minute of their 10–32 loss to the Lions.

References

External links

Highlanders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Elliot Living people 1989 births New Zealand rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Southland rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Christchurch Māori All Blacks players People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch New Zealand international rugby union players