Leon MacDonald
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| Leon MacDonald | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Leon Raymond MacDonald | ||
| Date of birth | December 21, 1977 | ||
| Date of birth | December 21 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 96 kg (15 st 2 lb) | ||
| Nickname | Rangi | ||
| School | Marlborough College | ||
| Occupation(s) | Professional rugby union footballer | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Fullback,Centre, First five-eighths | ||
| All Black No. | 993 | ||
| Clubs | Caps | (points) | |
| 2004 |  Yamaha Jubilo |
- | (-) |
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| 1997–03, 05– 1994–1996 |
 Canterbury Marlborough Rugby Union |
37 33 |
|
| Super Rugby | |||
| 1998–03, 05– 1998 1997 |
Crusaders Chiefs Crusaders |
92 5 7 |
(258) (23) (-) |
| National team(s) | |||
| 2000–03, 05– 2005 |
New Zealand NZ Maori |
51 3 |
(141) (10) |
Leon Raymond MacDonald (born 21 December 1977 in Blenheim) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He plays first five-eighths (fly-half) and fullback.
He made his provincial debut for Marlborough against Buller in 1994. He plays for the Crusaders in the Super 14 and for Canterbury in the National Provincial Championship. He is a prodigious goalkicker, and a player who has continually showed exemplary commitment in defense with little apparent concern for his own welfare, as is shown by his concerning nuber of concussions. Macdonalds game has grown from strength to strength as is a rare breed among New Zealand exported players in that he came back and played even better after his leave to Japan. From fullback Leon is a dangerous attacking weapon with the gift of seemingly always to beat a few tacklers. Leon is the fucking man and Canterbury will love you forever. Leon's 2008 season with the Crusaders has seen him play in the form of his life which resulted in Sky Sport's rugby television programme Reunion giving him the Crusader's MVP for their Super 14 title winning season
MacDonald was born in Blenheim, New Zealand, and attended Marlborough Boys' College. He plays for Burnside in the Christchurch premier competition. He made his All Black debut age 22, versus Scotland in 2000. He has currently scored a total of 131 test points (12 tries, 25 conversions, 7 penalties) in the 43 tests he has played. He has also played for New Zealand Maori in which he has played 3 games and scored 10 points. He scored the winning try for the NZ Maori against the British and Irish Lions in 2005 in Hamilton.
[edit] Selection Controversies
In the 2003 Rugby World Cup, he was shifted from fullback to centre by All Blacks backline coach Robbie Deans. This proved to be a failure, and was the last time he was ever to be played at centre. In 2005, he was shifted to flyhalf against the Lions by All Blacks backline coach Wayne Smith. This again proved to be a failure as he was never to be played there again.
He has played for Yamaha Jubilo in Japan.
He has also played for Marlborough in the Hawke Cup when they won it in the 1993-94.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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