Thomas Mathew Donnelly (born 1 October 1981) was 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 its m ...

player who played for

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He also made 15 appearances for 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 ...

since 2009 and played for

Otago Rugby Football Union The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in t ...

. He moved into a coaching career at Otago from 2017.

Playing career

Provincial rugby

Born in Rotorua, Donnelly moved south in 2000 to attend the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, and made his debut for

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 ...

in 2002. He quickly established himself as a fixture at lock for the province, and by 2005 was one of the standout players in the provincial championship, forming a dynamic partnership with James Ryan. Although injuries and international duty have limited his availability for Otago, he remained a fixture in the squad, captaining the team for a stretch in 2007 in place of an injured Craig Newby. In 2008, he played his 50th match for the province. Due to a shoulder injury and his time with the

, Donnelly made only a single appearance for Otago in the 2010 ITM Cup. However, in the

2011 ITM Cup The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago hosted North Harbour. It involved the top fourteen rugby uni ...

he appeared in every game, serving as team captain for the majority of the season following an injury to

Eben Joubert Eben Joubert (born 30 June 1983 in Johannesburg, South Africa) was a South African rugby union player playing in New Zealand for Otago in the ITM Cup competition. He was named Otago captain in 2011. Playing career After attending the Universit ...

Super Rugby

Donnelly earned a place on the Highlanders for the first time for the 2004 Super 12 season, but was limited to only two appearances. However, he emerged as a full-time starter through the 2005 and 2006 seasons, starting 20 out of 24 games over that period. After losing most of the 2007 Super 14 season to injury, he returned in 2008 in top form, marking himself as a future

All Black 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, ...

. A strong

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

would eventually see that promise fulfilled, as he cracked the national side for the first time at the conclusion of the year. Donnelly started the first 5 games of the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, fea ...

before being ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a serious ankle injury. Back healthy in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, he found himself in an unfamiliar position coming off the bench as the strong play of

Josh Bekhuis Joshua Bekhuis (born 26 April 1986) is a professional rugby union player who plays at lock for Honda Heat in the Japanese Top League competition. Playing career Provincial Rugby Bekhuis began his career with Southland in 2006 after a success ...

and

Jarrad Hoeata Jarrad Hoeata (born 12 December 1983) is a professional rugby union player who plays for New Zealand side Taranaki. He made his debut for the All Blacks during the 2011 Tri Nations tournament. Early life Hoeata was born on 12 December 1983 in T ...

kept him out of the starting line-up. After a disappointing season in 2011, Donnelly transferred to 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 ...

for the 2012 season. On 17 October 2013, it was confirmed that Donnelly had moved to fellow Super Rugby team, the

Blues (Super Rugby) The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

Top 14

In 2014, Donnelly signed a deal to join French

side

International career

Donnelly was on the fringes of the

for several years, first being selected to the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

in 2006. He was again selected for the Junior All Blacks in 2007, and to an All Blacks wider training group in 2008. After being selected to the Junior All Blacks again in 2009, Donnelly was called into the full squad due to an injury to Bryn Evans and made his debut against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the final Tri Nations game of the season on 19 September, won 33-6 by the

in Wellington. On the 2009 end of year tour, Donnelly featured in all 5 matches, earning positive reviews for his steady play. In the 2010 Tri Nations tournament, Donelly played perhaps the finest rugby of his career as one of the form players for the All Blacks, starting every match as New Zealand went undefeated in the tournament. However, his international season would end on a sour note as he injured his knee against

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 ...

, ruling him out of the remainder of the end of year tour. The All Blacks have a record of 14 wins and 1 loss in games in which Donnelly has featured.

Coaching career

Donelly became an assistant coach for Otago Rugby in 2017 and from the 2020 season he succeeded Ben Herring as chief coach. His appointment was for 3 years.

References

External links

Profile on ''itsrugby''All Blacks Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Tom 1981 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Crusaders (rugby union) players Blues (Super Rugby) players Otago rugby union players Rugby union players from Rotorua Rugby union locks Montpellier Hérault Rugby players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France