Colin Slade
Encyclopedia
Colin Slade is a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer who represents the Highlanders in the Super 15 competition and Canterbury
Canterbury Rugby Football Union
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a substantial part of the Canterbury region, in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand...

 in the ITM Cup, playing at primarily at Fly Half, as well as all other backline positions on occasions. He was first selected for the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 in 2009.

Provincial Rugby

Slade made his debut for Canterbury
Canterbury Rugby Football Union
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a substantial part of the Canterbury region, in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand...

 playing first five in the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup
2008 Air New Zealand Cup
The 2008 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 31 July 2008, and continued until the final on 25 October 2008....

, and scored 86 points for his side as Canterbury won the competition. His performances improved substantially as the season progressed and with Dan Carter unavailable and Stephen Brett
Stephen Brett
Stephen Brett is a rugby union player who plays for the Blues in the Super 14 and Canterbury in the Air New Zealand Cup.-Career:...

 injured, Slade became the first choice 10 for the Canterbury side.

In the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup
2009 Air New Zealand Cup
The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November...

, Slade was shifted to fullback as Stephen Brett was again healthy and reclaimed the number 10 jersey. Despite the shift in position, however, Slade didn't miss a beat as he started 14 games as one of the leading fullbacks in the competition, scoring 4 tries over the course of the season (including two outstanding tries in the final) as Canterbury again emerged champions.

For the 2010 ITM Cup
2010 ITM Cup
The 2010 ITM Cup was the 34th provincial rugby union competition, the fifth since the competition reconstruction in 2006 and the first under the new sponsor of ITM , involving the top 14 provincial unions of New Zealand...

, Slade reclaimed the starting first five position for Canterbury – along with first-choice goal-kicking duties – and emerged as one of the most dominant players in the competition. Despite missing games while with the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

, Slade scored 152 points in just 11 starts to finish 2nd in the competition to Lachie Munro
Lachie Munro
Lachlan Munro is a New Zealand professional rugby player who is a product of Auckland Grammar. In 2007 Munro played for the New Zealand 7s side and also the New Zealand under 21s side. He also played for Auckland in the Air New Zealand Cup, which is the New Zealand provincial championship. In...

. He also led Canterbury to their third consecutive title, sealing victory in the final against Waikato
Waikato Rugby Union
The Waikato Rugby Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Its senior representative team competes in the ITM Cup , and won the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup in 2006.Waikato Rugby Union was founded in 1921...

 with a fine individual try.

Super Rugby

Slade's impressive performance in the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup caught the eye of Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder
Todd Blackadder
Todd Julian Blackadder is a former professional New Zealand rugby union player and professional rugby coach. He served as Director of Rugby for the Tasman Rugby Union before being appointed to succeed Robbie Deans as coach of Super 14 team the Crusaders...

 who included Slade into the squad for the 2009 season. Playing mainly out of position on the wing, he emerged as a regular member of the squad, making 11 starts as well as a substitute appearance in the semi-final against the Bulls.

For the 2010 Super 14 season
2010 Super 14 season
The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, featured a total of 94 matches, with each team playing one...

, Slade was shifted to fullback, as he had been in the previous Air New Zealand Cup. His season was highlighted by a 21-point performance against the Lions on 20 March and his first Super Rugby try against the Stormers on 20 April.

In an effort to get more playing time at his favoured position of first five-eighth, Slade transferred to the Highlanders for the 2011 Super Rugby season. However, his season would be blighted by injury, beginning with a broken jaw suffered in a preseason game that ruled him out of the first 5 matches of the competition. After two solid performances in Highlander victories, he suffered a second broken jaw in his third game back, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

International Rugby

A former member of New Zealand U-19 and U-21 sides, Slade was selected for the Junior All Blacks
Junior All Blacks
The Junior All Blacks are a New Zealand rugby union team. The Junior All Blacks are not an age grade side, but the second national team behind the New Zealand national rugby union team....

 side for the 2009 IRB Pacific Nations Cup
2009 IRB Pacific Nations Cup
The 2009 Pacific Nations Cup is a rugby union tournament held between five national sides on the Pacific Rim: Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the Junior All Blacks. The New Zealand Māori team that won the tournament last year will no longer take part in this competition because of a decision taken by...

 where he played mainly at fullback, scoring 30 points including a try against Japan
Japan national rugby union team
The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...

. On the back of that solid performance, he was selected into the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 training squad for the 3rd leg of the Tri Nations Series
2009 Tri Nations Series
The 2009 Tri Nations Series was the fourteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies, and Springboks...

 although he didn't see any game action.

In 2010, Slade was called up again as a replacement for injured fly-half Dan Carter for the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 final match in the 2010 Tri-Nations
2010 Tri Nations Series
The 2010 Tri Nations Series is the fifteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies, and Springboks...

 against the Wallabies
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 on 11 September. He made his All Black debut off the bench in the 60th minute coming on as a replacement for Aaron Cruden
Aaron Cruden
Aaron Cruden is a World Cup winning New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays for Manawatu Turbos in the National Provincial Championship, Chiefs in the Super 15 Competition and is an All Blacks international. Cruden's position is first five-eighth/fly-half...

.

Slade then made a mark in New Zealand's friendly against Fiji in July 2011. He scored a try, two penalties and four conversions for the All Blacks. He then played in New Zealand's opening Tri-Nations game against South Africa and scored New Zealand's sixth try of the match, resulting in victory by 40–7. He came on as a substitute in New Zealand's next match against Australia. He got his first Tri-Nations start against South Africa in the All Black's penultimate game.

He was selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...

 and came on as a substitute in the opening match where he scored a conversion after Ma'a Nonu
Ma'a Nonu
Ma'a Allan Nonu is a professional Samoan rugby union player from New Zealand. Nonu plays for the Wellington Lions in the ITM Cup and the New Zealand All Blacks...

's try. After Dan Carter injured his groin and was forced out of the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...

 it was announced that Slade would become the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 starting fly-half for the remainder of the World Cup. After having a 'horror' Tri-Nations game against the Springboks and an 'ordinary' first World Cup game, the public of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 initially doubted the ability of Slade to perform in Carters absence. However, coach Graham Henry voiced his trust in Slade, urging the New Zealand supporters to give him their full support.

Slade then aggravated a groin tear injury during the Argentina game and was ruled out of the rest of the Cup.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK