Samuel Murray John Prattley (born 16 January 1990) is a 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 its m ...

player who currently plays 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 ...

for in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

Early career

Born in Blenheim, and raised in the rural town of

Rai Valley Rai Valley is a rural settlement in Marlborough Region, Marlborough, New Zealand. It is located on , northwest of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenheim and east of Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. The Rai River runs past the locality to join the Pelorus R ...

, Prattley played rugby from an early age and followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle in representing the Pelorus Rugby club. He moved to nearby Nelson to attend high school at Nelson College and played first XV rugby during his time there.

Senior career

After graduating high school, Prattley made his way through club rugby and then made his national provincial championship bow in

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with the Nelson-based Makos for whom he would go on to make 29 appearances for in 3 seasons. He headed north to join ahead of the

2013 ITM Cup Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

and quickly established himself as a regular in the number 1 jersey. He made 9 appearances, 6 of which were from the start in his first season in New Zealand's largest city before starting all 11 of Auckland's games during the

2014 ITM Cup Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

which saw them reach the Premiership semi-finals before losing to after extra-time.

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saw him play an additional 9 games for Auckland as they reached the Premiership final before losing narrowly to while

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was a year of disappointment both for him and his side. Auckland missed out on the Premiership play-offs altogether with a 5th place finish on the log standings and injury limited Prattley to just 5 starts during the season.

Super Rugby

During his time with Tasman, Prattley was involved in the and wider training groups but did not make any

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 ...

appearances. His move north to Auckland opened up new doors for him and injuries in the front-row saw him brought in as emergency cover during the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumb ...

. He went on to represent the Blues 4 times that year and was upgraded to a full contract for the following season. He turned out 10 times in

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and 9 times in

with the majority of his appearances coming from the substitutes bench.

saw

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He played ...

replace Sir

John Kirwan John Kirwan may refer to: * John Óge Kirwan (fl. 1530–1531), mayor of Galway * Sir John Kirwan (1650–1721), Irish entrepreneur * John Kirwan (cricketer) (1816–1899), English cricketer * John Kirwan (politician) (1869–1949), Australian ...

as Blues head coach and this change saw Prattley become a more regular starter, playing 10 times during the season with 9 of these appearances coming from the start. Despite his injury problems during New Zealand's 2016 domestic season, Prattley maintained his place in the Blues squad for

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International

Prattley was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which won the

2010 IRB Junior World Championship The 2010 IRB Junior World Championship was the third annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby's ...

. He scored 1 try in the 3 appearances as the tournament which was held in Argentina.

Career Honours

New Zealand Under-20 * World Rugby Under 20 Championship -

Super Rugby Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prattley, Sam 1990 births New Zealand rugby union players Tasman rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Auckland rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Rugby union props People educated at Nelson College Rugby union players from Blenheim, New Zealand Living people Sunwolves players