Shannon Frizell
| Full name | Shannon Michael Frizell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 11 February 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Folaha, Tonga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 195 cm (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 108 kg (238 lb; 17 st 0 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | 'Apifo'ou College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Tyson Frizell (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shannon Michael Frizell (born 11 February 1994) is a Tongan-born[1] New Zealand rugby union player who plays for the Template:Rut Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition and Template:Rut Tasman in the Mitre 10 Cup.[2][3] His position of choice is flanker.[4]
Early life
Frizell was born and raised in Folaha, Tonga and started in his childhood playing football by Folaha F.C..[5] and played 2010 and 2011 for the Tonga national under-17 football team.[6] He presented the Tonga U-17 national football team at the 2011 OFC U-17 Championship in New Zealand.[7][8]
Playing career
Early career
In 2011, he switched from Football to Rugby and started aged 17, at Apifo'ou College and represented Tonga U20 at the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in 2014, before moving to New Zealand in 2015, initially on a development contract with Tasman.[9][10]
Senior career
On 20 April 2018, Frizell scored three tries against the Template:Rut Blues in a Super Rugby match at Eden Park. His performances for the Highlanders earned him a call-up for New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks, having been tipped by the media for an unlikely All Black debut.
With injury to Vaea Fifita, Frizell made his debut for the All Blacks on 23 June 2018 against France. Frizell started the game at blindside flanker, playing 71 minutes on debut. Frizell had to be taken to the blood bin in the 22nd minute, due to an eye injury, so was temporarily replaced by Highlanders team-mate Jackson Hemopo, who was also on debut for New Zealand. Frizell came back on in the 31st minute and stayed on for the rest of the test, which the All Blacks won 49-14.
Frizell went on to start three times for the All Blacks during the 2018 Rugby Championship, in the absence of the injured regular starter, Liam Squire. Frizell was one of the standout performers in the first test against Argentina, on 8 September, playing the full 80 minutes at his homeground in Nelson, scoring his first try for the All Blacks as they won 46-24. Frizell unfortunately failed to make an impact in the final two tests of the competition, including the 32-30 victory over South Africa, 6 October. The All Blacks were drawing 6-6 at halftime, with Frizell subbed off 46 minutes into the test.
With Vaea Fifita re-called, Frizell was dropped for the All Blacks' end-of-season tour for 2018. Rookies Gareth Evans, Dillon Hunt and Dalton Papalii were also chosen over Frizell.
After some strong performances in the 2019 Super Rugby season, where he was among the highest try-scorers, with six tries, Frizell earned a re-call for New Zealand's 39-man Rugby Championship squad.[11][12]
On 31 July 2019, Frizell and four other players, including Highlanders teammate, Josh Ioane, were dropped from the All Blacks, having performed poorly against South Africa in a 16-16 draw.[13] Frizell was subsequently released back to Tasman for the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup, where he re-established his place as a regular starter for the province.
Luke Jacobson's concussion problems continued, which ruled him out of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, to Frizell's benefit. Frizell immediately flew to Japan after Jacobson's injury, to re-join the 31-man All Blacks squad and has played 1 match off the bench versus South Africa and started against Canada and Namibia scoring in the Canada test.
Frizell was named in the South Island squad for the North vs South rugby union match in 2020, starting in the number 6 jersey in a 38-35 win for the South.
He continued his stay in the All Blacks, named in the squad for the 2020 Rugby Championship Frizell established himself as the first choice number 6 with starts against Australia in a 16-16 draw, a 27-7 win and a 5-43 win.
References
- ^ "Rugby brothers Tyson and Shannon mark their mark on different sports fields". Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Shannon Frizell". Mako.nz. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ "Shannon Frizell". thehighlanders.co.nz. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ "Shannon Frizell". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ Waler, Brad. "Tyson Frizell and the brother he wasn't allowed to grow up alongside". nrl.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ "Tonga Football National U17 Team: Saimone Pahulu-Folaha FC, Sioeli 'Ahovelo-Folaha FC, Talanoa Fanguna-Navutoka FC, Hemaloto Polovili-Lotoha'apai FC, Veti Vai-Lotoha'apai FC, Poasi Vakauka-Longoteme FC, Piokalafi Fakaosi-Kolofo'ou FC, Siosifa Moimoi-Kolofo'ou FC, Shannon Frizell-Folaha FC". Tonga Football. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ "Tonga 0: Shannon Frizell charges out to deal". Oceaniagfootball.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ "Shannon Frizell, the All Black who played football for Tonga".
- ^ "MEET SHANNON FRIZELL".
- ^ "IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2014".
- ^ "Match Statistics for Shannon Frizell".
- ^ "First All Blacks squad of 2019 named".
- ^ "The Unlucky Five: Where did the five dropped All Blacks go wrong?".