Kevin O'Neill is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays for

Waikato Rugby Union The Waikato Rugby Union (WRU) is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Headquartered in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, WRU was founded in 1921. Its senior representative team, ni ...

in the

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

and for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. His position is

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

Career

Provincial Rugby

Kevin debuted in 2003 for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 2003 in a warm-up match against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

who were on the build-up to the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

. He played for

until 2007 after 29 caps for

he transferred to

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

Super 14

Kevin debuted for the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. He played a number of games beside

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

Chris Jack Christopher Raymond Jack (born 5 September 1978) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played as a lock. He played for Canterbury and the Tasman Mako in the National Provincial Championship and its successor, the Air New Zealand Cup; ...

. He was drafted to the Chiefs and since then has signed with them ending his career in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. O'Neill played most games for the Chiefs in 2008.

Representative Squads

New Zealand Under 21

O'Neill played in the World Cup winning under 21s in 2003 alongside fellow

, Adam Thomson.

Junior All Blacks

He was a member of the 2005 Junior All Blacks.

All Black debut

O'Neill earned a single All Blacks cap when he came off the bench in a test against the Springboks in Dunedin in 2008. On 12 July 2008, at

Carisbrook Carisbrook (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Carisbrook Stadium) was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, ...

, after 28 minutes O'Neill made his debut for the All Blacks after a knock to

Ali Williams Alexander James Williams (born 30 April 1981) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player who played as a lock most notably for Super Rugby club Blues and the New Zealand national team. Williams spent almost all of his playing car ...

caused him to leave the field. The

went down to the

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

30 - 28 after a chip and chase from Ricky Januarie resulted in a match winning try. It was the

' first loss at

to the

. O’Neill never played for the All Blacks again.

References

External links

* Living people Canterbury rugby union players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Crusaders (rugby union) players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Australia Melbourne Rebels players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks Waikato rugby union players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Year of birth missing (living people) {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-stub