Leon Raymond MacDonald (born 21 December 1977) is a retired 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 ...

footballer, and now head coach for the Auckland Blues rugby team, who played 56 tests for the national team, 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, ...

. He played as a first five-eighth (fly-half),

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, and fullback.

Career

Born in Blenheim, MacDonald made his provincial debut for Marlborough against Buller in 1994. He played 122 matches 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 ...

and seven for the Chiefs in the Super 14, and played for

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 the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

. He was a prodigious goal kicker. He is rare among New Zealand exported players, because he played even better after his return from Japan. In 2008, Sky Sport's ''Reunion'' awarded him the Crusader's MVP title for their Super 14 title-winning season. He played for Burnside in the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

premier competition. He made his

debut age 22, versus

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 2000. He scored a total of 141 test points (14 tries, 25 conversions, 7 penalties) in the 56 tests he played. He has also appeared for New Zealand Māori, playing three games and scoring 10 points, including the winning try against the

British and 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 ...

in 2005 in Hamilton. In the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, he was shifted from fullback to centre by All Blacks backline coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans h ...

. This proved to be a failure, and was the last time he was ever to be played at centre. In 2005, he was shifted to first five-eighth during the Tri-Nations by All Blacks backline coach to cover for the injured Daniel Carter.

Japan

In 2004 season, MacDonald played for Yamaha Jubilo in Japan. He played for

Kintetsu Liners Hanazono Kintetsu Liners rugby team are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Hig ...

in Japan in the 2009–2010 season. In 2010 he announced his immediate retirement from rugby, after failing to recover from a long-term injury. It was also announced in 2010 that MacDonald would become an assistant coach for the Tasman Makos for the 2010 season.

Cricket

He has also played for Marlborough in the

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat t ...

when they won it in the 1993–94 season.

References

External links

Crusaders profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Leon 1977 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Chiefs (rugby union) players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Shizuoka Blue Revs players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union players from Blenheim, New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan People educated at Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough rugby union players New Zealand cricketers New Zealand rugby union coaches