Mark van Gisbergen (born 30 June 1977 in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's ...

) is a

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 who plays at fullback for

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and

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 ...

. He is nicknamed 'Giz' or 'Gizzy'. Van Gisbergen's father is

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

born whilst his mother is from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, meaning that the player holds both a

New Zealand passport New Zealand passports ( Māori: ''Uruwhenua Aotearoa'') are issued to New Zealand citizens for the purpose of international travel by the Department of Internal Affairs. New Zealand has a passport possession rate of around 70% of the populatio ...

and a Netherlands passport. Van Gisbergen qualified to play for

on 11 September 2005 on residency grounds, having come to England three years previously to begin his playing career at

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

. He is a former

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

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 ...

, although he was unable to cement a regular starting position or secure a more financially rewarding Super 12 contract. He played his club rugby for Hamilton Marist for several seasons, often at fullback. The fullback made his debut for

in 2002 and scored just under 300 points for his club in the 2003-04 Zurich Premiership and the 2003-04 Heineken Cup. He scored over 300 points in the 2004-05 Zurich Premiership and the

2004-05 Heineken Cup A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on th ...

and appeared in all but two Wasps matches. In his time with Wasps he played in four victorious Premiership Finals in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. In the 2004 final he scored a conversion, but in the 2005 final he was more pivotal and scored a try, three conversions and five penalties. Then in 2008 he scored two conversions and four penalties. He also played in two Heineken Cup Finals in 2004 and 2007. In 2004 he scored a try, three conversions and two penalties. In 2007 he was a replacement. He made his Test debut as a brief replacement for

Mark Cueto Mark John Cueto (born 26 December 1979 in Workington, Cumbria) is a former English international rugby union player. He played on the wing for Sale Sharks and England. He is currently the third leading try scorer in the Aviva Premiership. On ...

during England's 26–16 defeat of Australia in November 2005. In a friendly before the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership he suffered a broken chin, and was ruled out for six weeks. He was picked in the

2007 Six Nations Championship The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen ma ...

Squad.

External links

England profile

Wasps profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Gisbergen, Mark 1977 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Lyon OU Rugby players People educated at St John's College, Hamilton Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Hamilton, New Zealand Wasps RFC players