Doug Howlett
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| Doug Howlett | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Douglas Charles Howlett | ||
| Date of birth | September 21, 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Auckland, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 14 st 9 lbs (93 kg) | ||
| Nickname | Dougie | ||
| School | Auckland Grammar School | ||
| Occupation(s) | Professional rugby player | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Wing, Fullback | ||
| All Black No. | 992 | ||
| Clubs | |||
| 1998 - 2007 | Auckland Marist | ||
| Provincial/State sides | Caps | (points) | |
| 1998 - 2007 2008 - Present |
 Auckland Munster |
56 7 |
(250) (15) |
| Super Rugby | |||
| 1999 - 2007 | Blues |
108 | (295) |
| National team(s) | |||
| 2000 - 2007 | New Zealand |
62 |
(245) [49t] |
Douglas Charles Howlett is a professional New Zealand rugby union player. He is primarily a wing but he has also covered fullback at national and international levels.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Born September 21, 1978 in Auckland, Howlett started playing rugby at Auckland Grammar School, where he was also a star sprinter, captain of athletics and, during his final year in 1996, head prefect. He calls upon his speed as a sprinter (he once clocked a personal best 10.68 seconds for the 100 meters in an under 20 athletics championship in 1998) to great effect in his rugby career.
[edit] Career
He made his first-class debut at the age of 18 for Auckland in the NPC. He currently plays for the Irish province Munster where he will play in the Magners League and Heineken Cup. On the international scene, he debuted for the All Blacks on June 16, 2000. Since then, he has scored on average 4 points per game (155 from his first 38). He was also a first choice winger in the 2003 World Cup.
Howlett has scored 49 tries for the All Blacks, a team record. His hat-trick against Italy on September 8th, 2007, at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, brought him level with the record of Christian Cullen, the All Blacks' previous leading try scorer and then his try in the 15th minute against Scotland on September 23rd gave him the record.
Howlett was selected for the Rugby World Cup squad ahead of Canterbury and Tasman player Rico Gear; however, he was expected to play the first 3 rounds of the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup. He scored a hat trick in Auckland's victory over Counties Manukau in the first round, and on the 11th of August against Waikato he scored two, bringing his try total for Auckland to 50. Howlett is known as a winger with a high work rate and strong defensive tackling ability. As with other All Black players Doug has been courted by Northern Hemisphere clubs looking for a star signing in the aftermath of the Rugby World Cup. On the 30th of August 2007 Howlett signed for Munster, following in the footsteps of that other All Black great, Christian Cullen, who commonly wore No. 22 for the province. Doug joined Munster at the start of 2008.
Howlett was arrested on the 9th October 2007 outside Heathrow Airport's Hilton Hotel on suspicion of criminal damage on two cars[1] following running up a bar tab of NZ$31,000 with some friends. It is possible they were drowning their sorrows from the All Blacks loss in Cardiff to the French a few days earlier on 6 October, a game in which Howlett, who had been in form throughout the Rugby World Cup tournament, was controversially left out of the team. Howlett subsequently issued an apology through the media. His career with the All Blacks thus ended on this low note.
Howlett has made a superb start to his Munster career. He made his debut in the Heineken Cup against Clermont Auvergne, notably starting the movement for Lifeimi Mafi's wonderful try. His second match came against London Wasps where he notably dived to save the ball in the build up to Denis Leamy's try, as well as demolishing David Doherty with a superb tackle. He scored his first Munster try against Ulster on the 22nd March 2008.
On the 24th May 2008 Doug was part of the Munster team that won the 2008 European Rugby Cup in the final match against Toulouse which Munster won 16-13 thanks to a Denis Leamy try and 11 points from the boot of Ronan O'Gara. Doug won his first cup with Munster only five and a half months into his career in the Northern Hemisphere. Doug himself scored a great try in the final only for it to be disallowed due to a forward pass from Rua Tipoki.
Doug joins Rod Kafer as the only the second player to have won the major rugby tournaments in the Southern and Northern hemisphere, the Super 14 and Heineken Cup. He enjoyed his success with the Auckland Blues in 2003 and Munster in 2008.
[edit] Foundation
On 22 February 2007 Howlett launched "The Doug Howlett Outreach Foundation" which is aimed at New Zealand children between the ages of 8 and 14 who demonstrate ability academically as well as on the sports field or court initially, in the codes of rugby union, Rugby league, and netball. Specifically it will assist with school fees, school books, sports fees and sports shoes or boots.
[edit] External links
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