Nathan White is a retired

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 its m ...

player 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 ...

, who played internationally for . He played as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, primarily at tighthead. White last played for Irish provincial side

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

, and had previously played for

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

, another province. Before moving to Ireland, he played

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

for the Chiefs and provincial rugby for

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, 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, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

Club career

In New Zealand

White first played rugby for the Te Awamutu Sports Club. In 2002, he joined 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 ...

side,

. White was brought in to play for

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side the Chiefs in 2006. The

2006 Super 14 season The 2006 Super 14 season started on 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial rugby union competition with 14 teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This season was the first of the expansion, ...

saw the Chiefs finish in seventh overall and third from the New Zealand teams. Later that year, White won the

2006 Air New Zealand Cup The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from ''Repechage A'' and ''B'' joine ...

with Waikato. The Air New Zealand Cup had replaced the National Provincial Championship that season. White started at tighthead prop in the final of the Cup, as Waikato beat

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

37–31. White served as the captain of Waikato for two years before leaving both Waikato and the Chiefs to move abroad.

Leinster

White moved to Irish provincial side

in 2011 on a one-year contract, joining ahead of the 2011–12 season. He played 17 times in the Pro12 that season, nine of these appearances coming from the bench. He scored one try in the competition, this coming against the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

on 2 December 2011. In the

2011–12 Heineken Cup The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at ...

, White made seven appearances, all coming from the bench, as Leinster won the competition.

Connacht

After his year with Leinster was finished, White joined another Irish province, this time

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Con ...

. He signed with the team on a three-year contract in February 2012 and joined them ahead of the 2012–13 season. In his first season with the club, White played 16 games in the

2012–13 Pro12 The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with Ra ...

, starting 14 of them and scoring one try. He also played five games in that season's Heineken Cup for the province. In January 2015,

and the

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

announced that White had signed a two-year contract extension, which would see him play at the Sportsground until at least the summer of 2017. In September 2016, it was announced that White was retiring from rugby with immediate effect, due to ongoing issues from a concussion he sustained in a game against Leinster in March of that year. He had made 58 appearances for Connacht in his four seasons with the side.

International career

In October 2014, White became qualified to play for through the three-year residency rule. White was named in the Irish squad for the end of year tests, but a bicep injury ruled him out until January. White was one of only two uncapped players included in Ireland's extended squad for the Six Nations. On 30 January 2015, at the age of 33, White made his first appearance for an Irish national team, featuring as a replacement for the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

. On 15 August 2015 White made his debut off the bench for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in a 28–22 win over Scotland in the second of their

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

warm up matches. A late arrival to international Rugby, in the space of seven months White accumulated 13 Irish caps with four starts, before he was forced to retire in September 2016.

References

External links

Irish Rugby - ProfileConnacht Rugby - Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Nathan Living people 1981 births Chiefs (rugby union) players Connacht Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Ireland international rugby union players Leinster Rugby players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Hāwera Sportspeople from Te Awamutu Rugby union props Waikato rugby union players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Rugby union players from Waikato Naturalised citizens of Ireland People educated at Te Awamutu College 2015 Rugby World Cup players