Jarrod Cunningham (7 September 1968 – 23 July 2007) was a New Zealand

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 ...

fullback. Born in

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

, Cunningham played for his home town rugby club from 1990 to 1997, during which time he was trialed for the

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, ...

in 1993, but was kept out of the side by

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national te ...

. He played Super 12 rugby for Auckland Blues in 1996, and then

Wellington Hurricanes The Hurricanes ( ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, H ...

in the 1997/98 season. In July 1998, he joined English

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

, playing 82 games and scoring 18 tries and 848 points. In the 2000/1 season he was the leagues leading points scorer, with 324. After tests at

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central L ...

, Cunningham was diagnosed with suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

's disease), in June 2002. He immediately retired from professional rugby, and started the Jarrod Cunningham SALSA Foundation in March 2003 with the aim of providing hope, education and inspiration for fellow sufferers of ALS. In November 2004 he was awarded the IRB Spirit of Rugby award in recognition of his work in raising awareness of the disease. He returned home to New Zealand in December 2004. He died at his home on 23 July 2007.

References

External links

Report of death and short career history at London Irish

Interview with Jarrod Cunningham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Jarrod 1968 births 2007 deaths Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in New Zealand London Irish players Wasps RFC players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Hawke's Bay rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union players from the Hawke's Bay Region