Grayson Hart (born 19 June 1988 in

Kaitaia Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of ...

, New Zealand) is a professional rugby union player for Bedford Blues. He previously played for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

and

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and the Blues and the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the sta ...

in Super Rugby. Also

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

and London Scottish in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

. His usual position is Scrum-half.

Early years

Hart grew up in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill where he excelled in many sports while attending Dilworth School. He then moved to Mt Roskill Grammar School for the last two years of secondary school. He was a member of Auckland representative rugby sides from under-14 through to under-16.

Playing career

Known as a quick and skilled scrum-half with a great pass who isn't shy when it comes to the physical aspects of the game, Grayson Hart has played Super Rugby for the Blues and

as well as NPC Rugby for Auckland and North Harbour. In the Northern Hemisphere he has played for

and is currently a member of

and has been capped internationally by

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

2007

Grayson made his debut for Auckland in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup as a 19-year-old and made 13 appearances for a team that went undefeated during the season, won the Air New Zealand Cup and reclaimed the

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 ...

from Canterbury.

2008

Hart was a key member of the New Zealand under-20 team which won the inaugural

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

in 2008 in Wales, scoring a try against Ireland in the process. At the end of 2008 he played in an All Blacks practice match against the New Zealand Barbarians side. He would again suit up for Auckland in the Air New Zealand Cup where he shared time at scrum-half with Taniela Moa.

2009

Hart made his Super Rugby debut for the Blues against the Bulls in Round 2 of 2009, he then went on to play seven Super 14 matches that season. At 20 years old, he is the youngest scrum-half ever to play for the Blues at Super Rugby level. Again played for Auckland at ITM Cup level.

2010

He was again part of the Blues Wider Training Group but with the signing of more experienced players at the scrum-half position Grayson did not play in any Super Rugby matches. Hart spent the 2010 season on loan to North Harbour for the ITM Cup.

2011

With opportunities in New Zealand limited, Hart set off to Australia where he signed with

Southern Districts Rugby Club Southern Districts Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in southern Sydney. The club currently competes in the New South Wales Rugby Union competition the Shute Shield. The club was formed by the amalgamation of the St George and Port Hacking ...

in Sydney's Shute Shield competition and was immediately signed to the

academy. He impressed the NSW coaching staff with his play for Souths and signed on for the 2012 Super Rugby season.

2012

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Hart trained with the Waratahs, as a member of the Extended Playing Group. He also played for Southern Districts in the Shute Shield, where his form at scrum-half helped convince Waratahs selectors him to partner with flyhalf with

Bernard Foley Bernard Foley (born 8 September 1989) is an Australian rugby player of Irish descent. He plays professionally for the Australia national rugby team and the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby. He can cover both fullback and fly-half a ...

. Hart made his debut for the Waratahs in the starting lineup in Round 20 against the Brumbies. Waratahs wing

Drew Mitchell Drew Alan Mitchell (born 26 March 1984) is a former Australian rugby union professional player. He played on the wing or as fullback. Up to the 2006 season he played for the Queensland Reds. He played for the Western Force for the 2007–09 Sup ...

wrote a glowing column in the Herald Sun about Grayson's contribution. Following this performance Hart was retained as the starter for the Waratahs in the team's final game of the season against the playoff bound Reds. Hart held his own in the face of world class competition, in the form of scrum-half

Will Genia Sanchez William Genia (born 17 January 1988) is a professional rugby union player, currently playing scrum-half for the Kintetsu Liners in Japan. He had previously played Super Rugby for the Queensland Reds (2007–2015) and Melbourne Rebel ...

. Grayson remained a member of the Waratahs squad in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2013–2015

After another season at the Tahs, Hart moved to Edinburgh, in the

tournament along with team mate Oliver Atkins. He made his debut for Edinburgh in a RaboPro12 game against Ulster at Ravenhill on 22 November, coming on as a substitute and scoring a try in the process. Hart was rewarded with his first start for Edinburgh in a Heineken Cup match against Gloucester at Kingsholm Stadium and was at the forefront of a gallant Edinburgh effort, he played 80 minutes and led the team around the park remarkably for an upset win which revived their European campaign. Hart would go on to make 24 appearances for Edinburgh over the next two seasons, making 13 starts and scoring five tries.

2015-2018

In March 2015, Grayson Hart signed a two-year deal with Scottish rivals Glasgow Warriors, where he made the short trip down the M8 to compete for a starting place on Gregor Townsend's league leading squad. Over two seasons with the Warriors, Grayson Hart made 32 appearances in the Pro12 and European Rugby Champions CUp, including 11 starts. When not in use for the Warriors, Hart played for the

Glasgow Hawks Glasgow Hawks is an amateur rugby union team in Glasgow, Scotland. They were Premiership Division One champions for three consecutive seasons from 2003–04 to 2005–06. History In Paris on 27 August 1995 a meeting of the International Rugby ...

in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

. In 2017, Hart joined the

. He joined Aviva Premiership side Worcester Warriors for the final few weeks of the 2017-2018 season.

2018-

London Scottish signed Hart in May 2018 and he will join the club for the 2018/19 season. 2019 Bedford Blues signed the scrum-half in March 2019 and will be heading to Goldington Road for the 2019/20 season

International career

New Zealand Under 20

Hart played for the New Zealand under-20 side in the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship where he kept current All Blacks scrum-half Aaron Smith on the bench throughout the tournament. Also part of the 2008 World Champion New Zealand under-20 side were current All Blacks, Zac Guildford, Sam Whitelock as well as Wallabies flyhalf Mike Harris.

Scotland

He is eligible to play internationally for

through his maternal Grandmother who was born in Glasgow. On the back of some strong club form Grayson Hart was selected for Scotland A to face England Saxons in January 2014. Grayson Hart made his test debut for

after coming on as a substitute in a win over Canada on 14 June at BMO Field in Toronto. He went on to make a total of three appearances for Scotland on their Summer Tour. 2017 Hart was selected to join the Scotland sevens team for the Hong Kong 7s and the Singapore 7s, he went on to become a key contributor in their march to the London Sevens title in 2017, setting up the match winning try in the quarterfinal upset against his birth country New Zealand.

Honours

* 2007: Air New Zealand Cup winner with Auckland * 2007:

winner with

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

* 2008:

winner with New Zealand U20 * 2015:

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

Runners-up with

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

* 2016: 2017 London Sevens Cup Champions with

Scotland national rugby sevens team The Scotland national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. The head coach is Ciaran Beattie, supported by manager Sean Lamont and skills coach Graham Shiel. During 2006, ...

Notes

References

External links

profile
at Glasgow Warriors website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Grayson 1988 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Auckland rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Blues (Super Rugby) players Edinburgh Rugby players Glasgow Warriors players Rugby union scrum-halves Glasgow Hawks players Scotland 'A' international rugby union players Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Scotland People educated at Dilworth School People educated at Mount Roskill Grammar School People from Kaitaia