Joseph Thomas Wheeler (born 20 October 1987) is a New Zealand television presenter and former

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 it ...

player. He played as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

or flanker for Suntory Sungoliath in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. Wheeler was selected in the New Zealand

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

and represented them on the November 2013 tour of North America.

Rugby career

A product of the

Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough Boys' College is a state single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand. The school was established as Marlborough High School in 1899 (renamed Marlborough College in 1919). The school its current form in was established in 1963 ...

1st XV, Wheeler made his Super Rugby debut for the against the Sharks in 2010. He joined the Highlanders for the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brum ...

on a two-year deal.

Television career

After retiring from playing rugby, Wheeler was hired by Sky Sport to commentate rugby. In April 2021, Wheeler apologised after mimicking an Asian accent in an offensive way when talking about former teammate

Kazuki Himeno is a Japanese international rugby union player who plays as a Loose Forward or Lock. He currently plays for the Highlanders in Super Rugby and Toyota Verblitz in Japan's domestic Top League. International After only 9 Top League appearance ...

during a post-match interview with another Highlanders player.

Personal life

Wheeler comes from a successful sporting family of

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Point ...

descent: his brother Ben Wheeler is a cricketer who plays for

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

; and his grandfather

Ray Dowker Raymond Thomas Dowker (6 July 1919 – 17 December 2004) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Canterbury between 1949 and 1957. A right-handed batsman, Dowker played 24 games – scoring 1,147 runs at 30.18 inc ...

was a multi-talented athlete who represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in cricket, football and many other codes. Samuel Wheeler, his older brother, featured in several Marlborough social pub dart competitions and finished a career high 6th place (after a

landslip Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

denied other competitors the ability to attend). In December 2015, Wheeler became engaged to his girlfriend of six years Courtney MacKay, one of the contestants from season 5 of ''The Block NZ''. They married in 2017, and had a daughter in 2019.

References

External links

Joe's websiteTasman profileHighlanders profileHiglanders YouTube profileWheeler joins HighlandersHighlanders in Tasman Coup

Maori All Blacks Squad NamedCrusaders profile
1987 births Crusaders (rugby union) players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Highlanders (rugby union) players Living people Māori All Blacks players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan New Zealand rugby union players Ngāi Tahu people People educated at Marlborough Boys' College Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Christchurch Tokyo Sungoliath players Tasman rugby union players New Zealand television presenters {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub