Kevin Senio (born July 6, 1978) is a former 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 ...

professional who most recently played professionally for ASM Clermont Auvergne. He is currently the head coach of Ponsonby Rugby club, based in Auckland, New Zealand. Senio is also a former

All Black 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, ...

, making his debut after coming on for

Piri Weepu Piri Awahou Tihou Weepu (born 7 September 1983) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Weepu played most recently for Wairarapa Bush in the Heartland Championship. Generally Weepu played as a half-back but also played at first five-eigh ...

against Australia in New Zealand's 34–24 win in the final match of the

2005 Tri Nations Series The 2005 Tri Nations Series, an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, was the tenth in the series. The competition is organised by SANZAR, a consortium of the three countries' rugb ...

and is currently a Junior All Black. That is Senio's only test thus far into his career. During his time at

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

, Senio played in a tour match against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

and was later called into the Junior All Blacks tour of Australia against Australia A. Senio signed a two-year deal with the

Canterbury Rugby Football Union The Canterbury Rugby Football Union (also referred to as "Canterbury" or "CRFU") is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design. The CRFU govern the ...

(CRFU) on 26 September 2005, making him eligible to play for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, after former Canterbury and Crusaders half-back,

Justin Marshall Justin Warren Marshall (born 5 August 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005. Marshall played for the in the Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, winning the competit ...

, left to play in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

following the

2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand In 2005, the British & Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing seven matches against first and second division teams from the National Provincial Championship, one match against the New Zealand Ma ...

. Senio also left after playing second fiddle to starting Chiefs' half-back, Byron Kelleher, who is also an All Black. After being the starting scrum-half for the first part of the season, Senio found himself battling it out for regular game time with rookie Andy Ellis. However, Ellis was injured in the semi-final against the Bulls and Senio started the 2006 Super 14 Final against the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

. The day after the final, Senio was selected for the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

to play in the inaugural Pacific Five Nations tournament. Senio has also represented NZ at age grade level, NZ Schools u/19 and u/21 and has also represented the NZ 7's team. Senio is married to

Silver Fern ''Alsophila dealbata'', synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term fo ...

Anna Senio and is brother to CS Bourgoin-Jallieu scrum-half John Senio. Senio is also the brother of Dimitri Senio, who plays rugby union in France for

SC Albi Sporting Club Albigeois is a professional French rugby union club playing the third-level Nationale. During the past years it went back and forth between Top 14, the highest level of the French league system and the second-level Rugby Pro D2. The ...

References

Injury throws new Blue into the hot seatSenio set for Crusaders debutCanterbury accused of greed over Senio signing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Senio, Kevin 1978 births Bay of Plenty rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Expatriate rugby union players in France People educated at Liston College Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Samoa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players