Charles Luke McAlister (born 28 August 1983 in Waitara) is a 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 ...

footballer. He plays 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– ...

and at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

. He is the brother of New Zealand women's sevens player

Kayla McAlister Kayla Ahki (née McAlister; born 6 August 1988) is a New Zealand netball and rugby sevens player. She has previously played for the Northern Mystics in 2011, and was a training partner in 2012, and currently plays for the New Zealand women's n ...

and son of

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 ...

footballer

Charlie McAlister Charlie McAlister is a former Scotland national rugby league team, Scotland international rugby league footballer who played as a professional in England and Australia. Playing career McAlister played for the Newcastle Knights in 1988. He then ...

Career

ST vs CO 2012-03-10 - 42 - Conversion kick by Luke McAlister

McAlister was born in Waitara, New Zealand, and attended

Westlake Boys High School Westlake Boys High School is a state secondary school for boys located in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School (opened 1958) split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and We ...

, where he played first five-eighth. He played for Silverdale in the North Harbour premier competition before making his provincial debut for North Harbour in 2002 and Super Rugby debut for the Blues in 2004. He made his international debut for New Zealand aged 21, versus the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in 2005. In June 2006, his father, Charlie, resigned his position as head coach of the Manawatu team in the Air New Zealand Cup. Charlie McAlister is a former

footballer, and Luke McAlister lived in the Manchester area from the age of four to 13 while his father played rugby league for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

and the Sheffield Eagles, during which time Luke was a member of the Manchester United Academy. Following the announcement of his inclusion in 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, ...

squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, it was announced on 23 July 2007 that McAlister would be joining Guinness Premiership side Sale Sharks after the World Cup on a two-year deal. It was also reported that he had turned down offers from both Munster and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

to join Sale. McAlister played in four of the All Blacks' five matches at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, including the 20–18 quarter-final loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, in which he was controversially sent to the sin bin for an obstruction. France converted the resulting penalty, and the sin-binning was cited by many New Zealand fans as one of the reasons why their team lost the match. Over the course of the tournament, McAlister accumulated a total of 17 points. In 2009 after two seasons with Sale in the Guinness Premiership, McAlister returned to New Zealand, where he re-signed with North Harbour and the Blues, with the intention of regaining his place in the national side. He appeared for the

as a substitute for Stephen Donald against

in Wellington on 20 June 2009. From August 2011, McAlister played for Stade Toulousain in France's

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 ...

championship. On his first season with Toulouse, he won the

Bouclier de Brennus The Bouclier de Brennus, or Brennus Shield in English, is a trophy awarded to the winners of the French rugby union domestic league. The shield was not named, as it is often believed, after the famous Gallic warrior Brennus but rather artist Ch ...

. He played a crucial role in it, scoring all of his team's points during both semi-final and final. On 12 May 2017, McAlister left Toulouse to sign for former Top 14 champions

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

ahead of the 2017–18 season.

References

External links

Sale profile
* 1983 births Living people Blues (Super Rugby) players Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Māori All Blacks players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players North Harbour rugby union players People educated at Westlake Boys High School Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Waitara, New Zealand Sale Sharks players Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks players Stade Toulousain players World Rugby Awards winners {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-stub