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Kane Thompson

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Kane Thompson
Full nameKane Gregory Thompson
Date of birth (1982-01-09) 9 January 1982 (age 42)
Place of birthWellington, New Zealand
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb; 247 lb)
SchoolWellington College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Number 8
Current team Taranaki
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002–2005 Wellington 7 (0)
2005–2007 Southland 22 (10)
2006–2007 Highlanders 14 (5)
2007–2010 Dax 64 (10)
2010 Southland 13 (5)
2011 Hawke's Bay 5 (0)
2012 Chiefs 13 (5)
2012 Canon Eagles 4 (0)
2014 Chiefs 6 (0)
2014–2016 Newcastle Falcons 20 (0)
2016 Manawatu 7 (0)
2017–2018 Taranaki 12 (0)
2018–2021 New Orleans Gold ()
Correct as of 29 July 2018
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002–2003 New Zealand U21 8 (0)
2007–2015 Samoa 36 (10)
Correct as of 10 October 2015

Kane Gregory Thompson (born 9 January 1982)[1] is a New Zealand-born rugby union coach and former player who played for the Samoa national rugby union team. He played professionally for several teams in New Zealand and in Europe during his 19-year playing career.[2] He retired from playing in 2021, and has since served as head coach for NOLA Gold in Major League Rugby (MLR).

Playing career

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Thompson debuted for the Highlanders in 2006. He showed he was well capable of stepping up to the higher level and he had a strong 2006/ 2007 season for the Highlanders and Southland. In 2007 he represented Manu Samoa at the Rugby World Cup and went on to represent U.S. Dax in the Top 14 in France. Kane represented Samoa at the 2011 Rugby World Cup before taking up a contract with Chiefs in 2012, who became Super Rugby champions in that year.

He played for the Chiefs in the 2012 Super Rugby, joining national teammate Mahonri Schwalger.[3]

On 17 July 2014, Thompson signed for Newcastle Falcons who compete in the English Aviva Premiership from the 2014–15 season.[4]

Kane also represented Samoa in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

Kane then went on to play for Manawatu in 2016, before moving on to play for Taranaki in 2017, 2018 before moving to play for NOLA Gold in the MLR Competition

Coaching

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Thompson served as player-coach for NOLA Gold in Major League Rugby, serving as forwards and defensive coach. He was named head coach in December 2021 ahead of the 2022 season. Thompson was named as assistant coach of Samoa in 2024 after a brief coaching stint with them in 2016 and 2021

References

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  1. ^ Kane Thompson rugby profile Scrum.com
  2. ^ "Taranaki recruit veteran lock Kane Thompson". Stuff. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  3. ^ http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/world-cup/news/article/-/10373236/kane-thompson-signs-with-chiefs/ [dead link]
  4. ^ "Newcastle Falcons sign Samoa lock Kane Thompson from the Chiefs in New Zealand". Sky Sports. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
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