Tyson Keats (born 6 June 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player who last played for London Welsh in the English Premiership. His position of choice is halfback, his contributions intangible. Keats is currently playing club rugby for the New Brighton club in Christchurch, New Zealand. He previously played for Italian club

Aironi Aironi Rugby (, "herons") was an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup, representing the Italian regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It lost its status as a regional side at the end of the 2011–12 ...

, Nelson Bays, Taranaki and Canterbury 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 ...

. Keats also played in the

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 ...

competition representing the Hurricanes and the Crusaders respectively.

Controversy

In 2013 Keats was part of a frustrating problem involving his passport which resulted in London Welsh being relegated. Keats described it as "the toughest time of his career". In March 2013 the club were found guilty of playing Keats for 10 games illegally while he held a fake English passport. Thus, five league points were removed which killed their chances of survival in the Premiership. The club was also fined over $30,000 NZD. Former manager Mike Scott was found fully responsible and was banned from any participation in rugby for life. Upon moving from Aironi his agent asked Scott if Keats should return to New Zealand to sort out his visa but Scott assured it would be taken care of in England. Keats found out he was Ineligible to play on the season opening match. The next week Keats was then told he was "fine" and it was all sorted. Further investigation by the new manager discovered that Scott had incorrectly stated Keats was from Christchurch, Dorset as opposed to Christchurch in New Zealand. This was all amongst a rush to field Keats as soon as possible.

Personal

While playing for Canterbury Keats owned an exterior plastering and painting business but when he made the move to the Hurricanes he was forced to sell it.

References

External links

Crusaders ProfileHurricanes ProfileAironi Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keats, Tyson 1981 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Taranaki rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Crusaders (rugby union) players Aironi players London Welsh RFC players Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union players from Christchurch New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Italy New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in Italy Expatriate rugby union players in England Nelson Bays rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Wales