Greg Pleasants-Tate (born 12 May 1991) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 who has played as a hooker for Bay of Plenty, North Harbour, Auckland, Canterbury and Southland in New Zealand's domestic

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

and the Blues and Highlanders in the international

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.

Early career

Born in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, a city on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, Pleasants-Tate moved north during his schooling and was educated at

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...

on the North Shore of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

where he played first XV rugby while also turning out for at age-group level.

Senior career

Despite coming through the youth ranks at North Harbour, Pleasants-Tate made his senior ITM Cup debut with the Steamers during the 2011 season. He played 2 seasons of rugby in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

and notched up 11 appearances before switching back to Harbour in

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where he played all 10 games in a dismal campaign for the men from Auckland's North Shore in which they would finish bottom of the Championship table.

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was not a great season for North Harbour, finishing 5th on the Championship log, however Pleasants-Tate put in some strong performances in the number 1 jersey, starting all 10 games during the regular season and scoring 2 tries. That would prove to be his final season in North Shore City and he made the short move to join ITM Cup Premiership side for the

2015 ITM Cup Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. He played 10 times as a hooker for Auckland in his first year with them as they reached the Premiership final before losing out 25–23 to .

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did not prove to be as strong a year for either party, with ending up 5th in the Premiership table, outside of the playoff places and injury holding Pleasants-Tate back in the latter part of the season and restricting him to just 6 appearances during which time he managed to score 3 tries.

Super Rugby

Four seasons of solid performances at domestic level saw him finally earn a crack at Super Rugby when the Auckland-based named him in their wider training group for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. Able to cover both number 1 and 2 jerseys, but having played the previous domestic season as a hooker for Auckland, Pleasants-Tate had to vie with

Matt Moulds Matthew Gary Moulds (born 15 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a hooker for in the Bunnings NPC. He has also previously represented New Zealand at rugby sevens. Club career Moulds started out his senior ca ...

to provide back up to

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 ...

;

Keven Mealamu Keven Filipo Mealamu (born 20 March 1979) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played at hooker for the Blues in Super Rugby, Auckland in the National Provincial Championship, and the New Zealand national team. He was a key membe ...

and James Parsons and subsequently only made 1 substitute appearance against the during what would be his only season with the Blues. Now focusing almost exclusively on playing hooker, Pleasants-Tate found himself surplus to requirements with the Blues and moved south to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

ahead of the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

to take a place as a member of the wider training group, providing cover for

Liam Coltman Liam James Coltman (born 25 January 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a hooker for in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship (NPC) and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Coltman has also ...

and

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 Nat ...

, the franchise's 2 established hookers. The Highlanders were defending Super Rugby champions in 2016, but were unable to hold on to their crown, losing out to the in

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in the competition's semi-finals. However, Pleasants-Tate, had a productive year and made 7 substitute appearances. Tony Brown replaced the -bound

Jamie Joseph James Whitinui Joseph (born 21 November 1969) is a New Zealand-born Japanese former rugby union player and current rugby union coach. A flanker, Joseph represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, ...

as Highlanders head-coach ahead of the 2017 season and he retained Pleasants-Tate in the squad for the year.

International career

Pleasants-Tate was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which won the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

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, playing 2 times and scoring 1 try.

Career Honours

New Zealand Under-20 *

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 ...

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Super Rugby Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleasants-Tate, Greg 1991 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union hookers Bay of Plenty rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Highlanders (rugby union) players People educated at Takapuna Grammar School Rugby union players from Whanganui Canterbury rugby union players Southland rugby union players