Tony Woodcock (rugby player)

Tony Woodcock

Full name	Tony Dale Woodcock
Date of birth	(1981-01-27) 27 January 1981
Place of birth	Helensville, New Zealand
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	118 kg (260 lb)
School	Kaipara College
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Loosehead Prop
New Zealand No.	1025
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2000–current	North Harbour	54	(10)
correct as of 2 August 2011.
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2003–2012 2013-	Blues Highlanders	113 7	(40) 0
correct as of 12 May, 2013.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2002–current	New Zealand	96	(45)
correct as of 2 December 2012.

Tony Dale Woodcock (born 27 January 1981 in Helensville, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union player. His position is loosehead prop, and he has played 92 tests for the national team, the All Blacks. He plays for Highlanders in Super Rugby, and also for North Harbour in the ITM Cup (when available). Woodcock has played for the All Blacks since 2002, scoring eight test tries. He has been described by The Dominion Post as "widely regarded as the world's premier loosehead", and by The New Zealand Herald as having the "best range of skills of any prop on the planet". He is now the most capped All Black prop of all time, and is the second most capped player in Blues history, behind Keven Mealamu.

After 113 appearances for the Blues, he joined the Highlanders for the 2013 Super Rugby season.

Woodcock has a reputation for playing as much rugby as possible. In 2005 he played in the first eleven of the twelve All Black test matches that year. From 2001–2004, he played in every match for North Harbour, except for the first two matches of 2004 due to being on All Black duty, and in 2002 and 2003, he played the full eighty minutes of every game for North Harbour. In 2006, he requested and received permission from the All Black coaching staff to return a week early from his enforced rest due to All Black duty, to play in North Harbour's Ranfurly Shield challenge against Canterbury, a match that North Harbour won 21–17, making them the Ranfurly Shield holders for the first time.

He was the first All Black prop to score a test try against Australia in 20 years and on 2 August 2008 he became the first All Black prop to score two tries in a match (a rare feat for a prop against any side^{[citation needed]}) against Australia in over 50 years.

He scored New Zealand's only try in the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final against France, becoming the first All Black prop to score a try in a Rugby World Cup final.^{[citation needed]}

Off the field, Woodcock has a sheep and dairy farm near Kaukapakapa.

International Tries

Try	Opposing team	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1	Australia	Melbourne, Australia,	Docklands Stadium,	2007 Tri Nations Series	02007-06-3030 June 2007	Lost
2	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	2007 Tri Nations Series	02007-07-2121 July 2007	Won
3	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	2008 Tri Nations Series	02008-08-01 August 2 2008	Won
4	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	2008 Tri Nations Series	02008-08-01 August 2 2008	Won
5	Australia	Brisbane, Australia	Lang Park	2008 Tri Nations Series	02008-09-1313 September 2008	Won
6	South Africa	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	2010 Tri Nations Series	02010-07-1010 July 2010	Won
7	South Africa	Johannesburg, South Africa	Soccer City	2010 Tri Nations Series	02010-08-2121 August 2010	Won
8	France	Auckland, New Zealand	Eden Park	2011 Rugby World Cup	02011-10-2323 October 2011	Won
9	Wales	Cardiff, Wales	Millennium Stadium	2012 End of Year Tour	02012-11-2525 November 2012	Won

External links

• Blues profile
• Tony Woodcock at AllBlacks.com