Andre Taylor (born 11 January 1988) 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 its m ...

player. He plays in the fullback (and occasionally wing or centre) position and most recently played for

Kintetsu Liners Hanazono Kintetsu Liners rugby team are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Hig ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and previously played for the

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 me ...

-based

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 ...

franchise, the Hurricanes. He has played for New Zealand's

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

international side, 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 ...

. Also a former New Zealand under-20 rep, Taylor endeared himself to Hurricanes' fans with a superb Super Rugby season in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Starting at fullback, he became a regular try-scoring threat, drawing comparisons with the great

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 ...

. At provincial level he began his career with Manawatu, his home province before making the switch to

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

in early 2010.

Early life

Born in Palmerston North, Taylor originally came out of the town of

Ashhurst Ashhurst ( mi, Whārite) is a town and outlying suburb of Palmerston North, in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. Location Ashhurst is sited 14 kilometres northeast of the Palmerston North city centre. The town s ...

, just out of Palmerston North and attended the local school. He possibly made his way into Palmerston North as he grew older.

Domestic career

Taylor came to the attention of rugby selectors at the age of 18, after he was selected in the Manawatu team to take part in the inaugural

2006 Air New Zealand Cup The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from ''Repechage A'' and ''B'' joine ...

season while still at school. Taylor made his provincial debut for the side later that year against

. The following year he was signed by the Super Rugby side the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

to feature in their wider training squad. Taylor first joined the Hurricanes in 2010 on the back of an exciting

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

season in which he proved a constant threat for opposition defences. Taylor capped off an excellent season by scoring 27 points in the Turbos’ final game of the 2009 season against North Harbour. He earned five caps for the Hurricanes in his first season, making his starting debut on the wing against the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

. Taylor returned for another full season with the Hurricanes in 2011, and then helped his second province Taranaki to third place 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 ...

and reaching the

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 ...

. At home at either wing or fullback, he chimed in with another big points scoring haul of 19 in the win over Tasman. The Hurricanes had scored 58 tries in 2012 and Taylor was part of many of these. He scored ten tries in 2012 and assisted in several more sharing the top try scorer of the season with

Bjorn Basson Bjorn Alberic Basson (born 11 February 1987) is a South African professional rugby union player playing as a wing or full-back for the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for Enisei-STM in the European Rugby C ...

of the Bulls. Taylor's form in 2012 for Taranaki in the No 15 jersey was limited due to injury, he played five matches and recorded seven points. He made another 10 appearances at fullback with the Hurricanes in 2013.

International career

In 2008 Taylor was selected in the New Zealand under-20 which won the world championship. Previously Taylor had played for the New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand under-17 sides. Taylor had also been part of the triumphant New Zealand Māori side that won the 2010 Māori centenary series against the

New Zealand Barbarians The New Zealand Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", are an invitational rugby union team. They have been a part of New Zealand rugby since the team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush and Hubert McLean, who captained their f ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Taylor rejoined the New Zealand Māori in their 2012 end of year tour, crossing the line once in three matches.

References

External links

Hurricanes profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Andre Living people 1988 births Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Hurricanes (rugby union) players Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Manawatu rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Japan New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School Rugby union players from Palmerston North Male rugby sevens players Rugby union fullbacks Taranaki rugby union players