Zarn Sullivan (born 10 July 2000) is a

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 it ...

player, who currently plays as a fullback or

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for the in Super Rugby and for in New Zealand's domestic

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 ...

competition.

Early career

Sullivan was born in Napier in

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

, where he attended Napier Boys' High School. While at Napier Boys', he played for the school's First XV team and represented

at Under 14 and Under 16 level. In 2017, he followed in his brother Bailyn Sullivan's footsteps and moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

where he spent his final two years of secondary school at King's College. He played for the college's First XV team in the Auckland 1A 1st XV competition. In 2017, an injury prevented him from being selected in the

Under 18 squad, but a year later he was invited to attend the Under 18 camp. In 2019, Sullivan represented Auckland at Under 19 level at the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under 19 tournament. That same year – his first year out of school – he was named the Auckland Rugby "Club Rookie of the Year" at the province's end-of-year awards function. In 2019 and 2020, he played for both the Blues Under 20 – via Facebook and the Blues 'A' team. – via Facebook

Senior career

In September 2020, Sullivan was named in the squad for the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top ...

season. He made his debut for the province – via the bench – on 20 September 2020 against and earned his first start on 17 October 2020 against . His first, successful season playing for Auckland saw him rewarded with a spot in the squad for the

2021 Super Rugby season The 2021 Super Rugby season was the 26th season of Super Rugby, an annual men's international rugby union tournament organised by SANZAAR, involving teams from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was wholly reg ...

. Having already played for the Blues during preseason ahead of the

2020 Super Rugby season The 2020 Super Rugby season was the 25th season of Super Rugby, an international men's rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR involving teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It is the third tournament in i ...

, after being offered an Interim Training Contract, he made his Super Rugby debut for the franchise on 1 May 2021 against a side that featured his brother Bailyn Sullivan. He scored a try on debut. Sullivan went on to play 7 games for the Blues in his first season, which culminated in the franchise winning the

Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Australia and Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in New Zealand) was a professional men's rugby union club competition in Australia and New Zealand. It featured the five S ...

title. While he played all his 1st XV rugby and age-grade representative rugby at

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, he played at fullback in all his senior games for Auckland and the Blues. He did this so well, that he was named the Blues "Rookie of the Year" at the end of the 2021 season. In November 2021, Sullivan re-signed with the Blues until the end of the 2024 Super Rugby season.

International career

In 2018, after his last year at King's College, Sullivan was named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team for a three-match international series in Australia. He played in all three games, including a 24–12 victory over Australian Schools. A year later, Sullivan - who is of

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative ...

descent - was selected to play for the first ever New Zealand Māori Under 20 team in a match against . The NZ Māori Under 20 team, which Sullivan co-captained, won the game 48 to 31. Late 2019 and early 2020, Sullivan was invited to attend the New Zealand Under 20 trial and development camps in preparation of the 2020

Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship The Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship is an international rugby union competition organised by Oceania Rugby, which is the regional governing body for rugby in Oceania. It is contested by men's junior national teams with an under-20 age requir ...

and World Rugby U20 Championship. Unfortunately, Sullivan missed out on playing for the New Zealand Under 20 team, because these tournaments were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In June 2022, Sullivan and his brother Bailyn were – for the first time – named in the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

squad to take on

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 ...

on their New Zealand tour. He made his debut for the side on 29 June 2022, when the Māori All Blacks beat Ireland 32–17 in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. Sullivan, who for the first time played together with his brother, had a man-of-the-match performance and scored a try on debut.

Reference list

External links

NZ Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Zarn 2000 births Living people Ngāti Kahungunu people People educated at Napier Boys' High School People educated at King's College, Auckland Rugby union players from Napier, New Zealand New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Māori rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players