Ryan McCarthy (born 21 January 1979) is a retired

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 ...

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 ...

footballer.

Playing career

McCarthy was a stalwart at halfback for

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

in the early 2000s, earning 51 caps for the province and helping them to a Division 3 championship in 2002. After a stellar 2005 season in Division 2 during which he scored 6 tries and was named to the Divisional XV, he moved up to

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

for 2006, where he would struggle to get playing time behind

Toby Morland Toby Morland (born 27 February 1983) is a New Zealand rugby union player. His position of choice is Rugby union positions, halfback. Morland currently plays for Manawatu Turbos, Manawatu in the Mitre 10 Cup. He made his Super rugby debut for t ...

and Chris Smylie. With Smylie being drafted to the

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for the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. The ...

, McCarthy was included in the wider training group of the Highlanders as the side's 3rd halfback behind

Jimmy Cowan Quinton James Cowan (born 6 March 1982) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He first played for the All Blacks – New Zealand's national team – during the 2004 tour to the United Kingdom and France, and played his last Test match for t ...

and Morland, and was called into the squad to make a single substitute appearance during the season. After playing club rugby in Auckland for

Ponsonby Rugby Football Club Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Auckland, New Zealand. The club was established in 1874 and is affiliated with the Auckland Rugby Football Union. Ponsonby is the oldest extant member of the Auckland union, a ...

in 2008, he spent a season playing for Steaua București Rugby in the

Romanian Rugby Championship Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

before retiring in 2009. A PE teacher, McCarthy has become involved in competitive

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

since his retirement, winning a

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

championship in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Ryan 1979 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players North Otago rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves