Harry Godfrey (born 3 January 2003) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a first five-eighth or

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

for in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition and the 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 ...

Early career

Godfrey was born and raised in Hunterville in the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

region in the lower half of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. He attended

Whanganui Collegiate School Whanganui Collegiate School (formerly Wanganui Collegiate School; see here) is a state-integrated, coeducational, day and boarding, secondary school in Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui region, New Zealand. The school is affiliated to the Anglica ...

and played both

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

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for the school. In 2019, he played for the school's 1st XV team that finished second in the Central North Island competition. The following year, he captained the team to a third place in that competition. He also played rugby sevens for his school, including at the 2020 Secondary School Sevens, of which he made the Tournament Team. Godfrey represented Whanganui at age grade level. – via Facebook. After graduating high school, Godfrey headed to Hawke's Bay where he plays for the Central Hawke's Bay Rugby & Sports Club in the province's club rugby competition. After good performances for the Hawke's Bay Academy team in 2021, Godfrey was named in the Hurricanes U20 squad for that year's Super Rugby Aotearoa Under-20 tournament.

Senior career

At only 18 years old, Godfrey was named in the squad for the

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the sixteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top f ...

season. He made his debut for the province on 6 November 2021 in a non-competition game against . He scored his first try for the Magpies the following season, in their Ranfurly Shield defence against on 30 July 2022. His first NPC game followed on 17 August 2022 against in Dunedin. Godfrey was one of a select group of young players, who earned a National Development Contract and trained with the ahead of, and during, the

2022 Super Rugby Pacific season The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 27th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams fr ...

. On 25 March 2022, he was named in the Hurricanes U20 team for the 2022 Bunnings Warehouse Super Rugby U20 competition in Taupō. In 2023, Godfrey was again among the National Development Contracted players, who trained with the Hurricanes. He played in both the Hurricanes' preseason games ahead of the

2023 Super Rugby Pacific season The 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia, Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific in Fiji and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 28th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition ...

. Although he wasn't named in the initial Hurricanes squad for their 2023 campaign, he was on the team sheet for their round 1 game against the and made his

debut for the franchisevia the benchon 25 February 2023. He made his starting debut for the Hurricanes on 2 April 2023 against the . Meanwhile, for the third consecutive year, Godfrey played for the Hurricanes U20 team in the Super Rugby U20 competition in Taupō. Godfrey was one of the standout players of the tournament and received the Sir John Graham Player of the Tournament award. On 3 April 2023, the Hurricanes announced that the franchise had signed Godfrey until the end of 2025. He scored his first try for the Hurricanes almost a year later, on 22 March 2024, against the .

International career

In 2020, after an outstanding 1st XV season, Godfrey was invited to attend a Barbarians Under 18 Development Camp, at the end of which he was named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was only a paper team and it didn't play any games. A year later, Godfrey was for the first time named in the

New Zealand Under 20 team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. However, due to the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the 2021 Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship and

World Rugby U20 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 nati ...

were cancelled. Instead, the team played a series of four matches on home soil, including one international match against the Cook Islands national team. The NZ Under 20s won that game 73 – 0 and Godfrey scored one of the tries. In 2022, Godfrey was again named in the New Zealand Under 20 team and played in two of the three matches of the

2022 Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2022 Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship was the sixth edition of the Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship. An invitation was extended to U20 to play in the Championship tournament for the first time, joining U20, U20, and hosts U20 fo ...

. New Zealand won the tournament after winning all three games.

References

External links

NZ Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Harry 2003 births Living people People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Manawatū-Whanganui Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Hawke's Bay rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players