John Daniell (born 1972) is an English-New Zealand rugby player and journalist. He was born in New Zealand, and educated both there and in England. After studying English at the University of Oxford, he worked as a journalist for

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

and Capital Television.

Rugby career

His early rugby career included playing for England Schoolboys (1990), New Zealand Under 19s (1991), New Zealand Colts (1992), Marist St Pats (1992–97), Oxford University (Blue, 1992–1994) and

Wellington Lions The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named West ...

(1994–96). In 1996 he turned professional, playing for French clubs Racing (

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French Sports club, omnisport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located a ...

) (1997–2000), Perpignan (

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

) (2000–2003), and Montpellier (

Montpellier Hérault RC Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people li ...

) (2003–2006).

Journalism

Currently a freelance journalist, he has been published in ''The Observer'', ''The Sunday Telegraph'', ''Financial Times'', ''The Times'', ''The Evening Post'', ''The New Zealand Listener'', ''L'Equipe'' and ''Le Monde''. Daniell and his wife,

Noelle McCarthy Noelle or Noëlle is the feminine form of the gender neutral name Noel (given name), Noel. It derives from the old French Noël, "Christmas," a variant (and later a replacement) of nael, which itself derives from the Latin natalis, "birthday". ...

, had a daughter in 2017 and were married the following year. Since 2017 they have made podcasts together as Birds of Paradise Productions. Their podcast "Getting Better", produced by McCarthy and

Emma Espiner Emma Espiner (née Wehipeihana) is a New Zealand broadcaster and political commentator. In 2020, she won Opinion Writer of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards. Biography Espiner grew up in Wellington. Her mother, Colleen Smith, was a feminist ...

, won an award at the 2021

Voyager Media Awards The New Zealand Newspaper Publishers’ Association awards are annual New Zealand media awards recognising excellence in the news print media. The first awards were held in 1974 giving out awards for news photography and have expanded to include ...

Publications

* ''Inside French Rugby: Confessions of a Kiwi Mercenary'' (2007), Awa Press * ''Confessions of a Rugby Mercenary'' (2009), Ebury Press :2009

William Hill Sports Book of the Year The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British sports literary award sponsored by bookmaker William Hill. The award is dedicated to rewarding excellence in sports writing. It was first awarded in 1989, and was devised by Graham ...

shortlist :2010

British Sports Book Awards The Sports Book Awards (previously National Sporting Club Book Awards then Telegraph Sports Book Awards) is a British literary award for sports writing. It was first awarded in 2003 as part of the National Sporting Club. Awards are presented in m ...

(Best Rugby Book)

References

External links

Confessions of a Rugby Mercenary, Ebury Publishing
– John Daniell, Financial Times 12 Dec 2008
Tonga's gentle giants turn their eyes on England
– John Daniell, Guardian 26 Sept 2007 1972 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand journalists USA Perpignan players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Rugby football writers New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France {{NewZealand-writer-stub