Kurt Morath (born 13 November 1984) is a New Zealand-born Tongan

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 plays at fly-half. He currently plays for the

Austin Gilgronis The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at th ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR). He previously played for

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

Morath was part of the

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

squad at the

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 celebrates ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

an
2019
Rugby World Cup.

Early life

Morath was born in

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

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 coun ...

. As a junior he played

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 112 ...

alongside former

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

five eighth

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

. In 2005, Morath was selected in the New Zealand Under-21 extended squad alongside other notable New Zealand players such as Andrew Ellis.

Professional career

In early 2016, Morath signed to the

San Diego Breakers The San Diego Breakers were an American professional rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. They were based in San Diego, California, and played their home games at Torero Stadium. History PRO Rugby announced on ...

in the newly formed

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

competition. At the start of the 2018-19 rugby season, he signed for Doncaster Knights in the English Championship, after playing for the

Utah Warriors The Utah Warriors are a professional rugby union team that competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. The team is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and ...

in the 2018 season. He then returned to the MLR to play for the

in 2020.

References

External links

ESPN profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morath, Kurt 1984 births Living people Biarritz Olympique players Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in the United States New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union players from Auckland San Diego Breakers players Taranaki rugby union players Tonga international rugby union players Utah Warriors players Rugby union fly-halves Auckland rugby union players Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay players Doncaster Knights players Austin Gilgronis players People from Takapuna