Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former 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 it ...

player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the

New Orleans Gold The New Orleans Gold, stylized as NOLA Gold, is a professional rugby union team based in New Orleans. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Since January 2020, Top 14, French rugby power ASM Clermont Auvergne has owned ...

of Major League Rugby (MLR). During his playing days, he played at

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– ...

(first five-eighth) for the Blues and

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

in Super Rugby and for

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 ...

internationally.

Provincial and club career

He generally specialised in the position of fly-half, also known as "

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– ...

" or "number 10", although he also played fullback (number 15) at national and international levels. Spencer first rose to prominence when he starred alongside

Christian Cullen Christian Mathias Cullen (born 12 February 1976) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand (the All Blacks), for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and later ...

in a

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

challenge in 1994, playing for the

Horowhenua Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kapiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...

team against Auckland. Auckland coach Graham Henry spotted Spencer's talent and recruited him to play for the Auckland team. He played for the Blues Super 12 team from the inception of the competition in 1996 until 2005, and for the

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 ...

NPC side. In 1996, Spencer played for the Blues in the first ever Super 12-match, kicking off the professional era of rugby union. He went on to score 608 points for the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. In 2005 he signed to the English club,

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

, where he stayed until 30 January 2009. On 3 February 2009 he signed for Gloucester on a 17-month contract. In January 2010 Spencer signed with the Johannesburg-based Golden Lions, to play for the team in the 2010 and 2011 Super Rugby seasons. The contract offered to him was said at the time to be the highest ever in South Africa. He subsequently took up a coaching role with the team, before being released following the 2012 season. He moved to the

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

-based for the 2013 season. In December 2013, he signed a five-year contract to become the kicking and specialist skills coach at Port Elizabeth-based side, the . He was appointed as their head coach on 20 February 2014. He was in charge for just one

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

season,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, where they achieved just one victory in ten matches.

Brent Janse van Rensburg Brent Janse van Rensburg (born ) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the defence coach for Bath Rugby in the English Premiership. Career He started his career at the South African Rugby Institute in Stellenbosch, also coaching at ...

was appointed as head coach for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division season with Spencer reverting to kicking and specialist skills coach. However, Spencer left the coaching staff a month later.

International career

Spencer first played for the All Blacks in a non-test tour match on 4 November 1995, but did not play his first test match until 1997. His test debut was against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at Athletic Park in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

on 21 June that year. He scored 33 points in that match alone. His All Black appearances as a starter were somewhat irregular thereafter, as

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national te ...

was generally preferred as the first-choice flyhalf for the side during the period from 1995–2002. He was selected for the 1999 All Blacks World Cup squad but became injured in training at London, so did not play a match in that tournament. However, following an exceptional season for the Blues in Super 12, Spencer became first-choice

for the All Blacks in 2003, and was a part of the squad for the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

that year. In 2004, Carlos Spencer struggled to find the same form he had displayed the previous year, and Mehrtens replaced him for the final game of that year's Tri Nations. He was then ruled out of the final All Black tour of the year through injury. In 2005 Spencer lost form early in the Super 12 competition and then suffered a fractured cheekbone in training. He agreed to play for the New Zealand Māori (in his 10th match for that team) against the touring

, but made himself unavailable 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, ...

so that he would not miss training for his new English club,

. As a player, Spencer was valued for his imaginative kicking and passing game, and his ability to unlock defences. He was also a handy, if not entirely reliable, goal kicker. Only five players have scored more test points than Spencer for New Zealand — Daniel Carter 1,598,

967,

Grant Fox Grant James Fox (born 16 June 1962) is a former rugby union player from New Zealand. He was a member of the All Blacks team that won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. He is also the father of professional golfer, Ryan Fox. Playing career ...

645, Beauden Barrett 465, and most recently,

Aaron Cruden Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Chiefs and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is first five-eighth (fly half). Early life Crud ...

322.

Boxing

On 3 December 2011, Spencer stepped into the boxing ring against

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

Awen Guttenbeil Awen Guttenbeil (born 14 March 1976) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Since retiring after a playing career spanning fifteen years, he went on to work as a broadcaster for Sky Network Televisio ...

in Fight for Life 2011 in

. The fight was controversially ruled a draw despite Spencer knocking down Guttenbeil with seconds remaining on the last round.

Awards and honours

In 2006, Spencer was named in the Guinness Premiership Awards Dream Team and collected the Player of the Year award for the 2005–06 season at the Northampton Saints annual awards, as voted for by the club's fans. He played in four matches for Bob Dwyer's

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

team in 2006, including a match for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

on 28 May and a 30–27 loss to the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

at Ellis Park on 3 June.

References

External links

*
Carlos Spencer , Rugby Database Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Carlos 1975 births Living people New Zealand international rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Northampton Saints players Barbarian F.C. players People from Levin, New Zealand Gloucester Rugby players Horowhenua-Kapiti rugby union players Ponsonby RFC players