Jeff Wilson (sportsman)

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Jeff Wilson
Full name	Jeffrey William Wilson
Date of birth	October 24, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Invercargill
Height	1.80 m
Weight	94kg kg
Nickname	Goldie
Rugby union career
Position	Wing; Fullback
All Black No.	935
Provincial/State sides
1993-2002 1992	Otago Southland
correct as of 28 January 2007.
Super Rugby		Caps	(points)
1996-2002	Highlanders	72	(175)
correct as of 28 January 2007.
National team(s)
1993-2002	New Zealand	60	(234)
correct as of 28 January 2007.
Other Information
School  attended	Cargill High School

Jeffrey William Wilson (born October 24, 1973 in Invercargill) is a New Zealand sportsman who has represented his country in both rugby union and cricket—a so-called "Double All Black", an increasingly rare achievement in the professional era. He is also a talented basketballer and won national secondary school titles in track and field.

Wilson was born in Invercargill and educated at Cargill High School, where in one rugby game he scored nine tries and a total of 66 points. He played for the national secondary schools side against Australia in 1992. His blonde hair earned him the nickname "Goldie".

Jeff Wilson is married to Adine Wilson (nee Harper), captain of the New Zealand netball team.

Contents 1 Rugby career 2 Cricket career 3 Post-retirement 4 External links

[edit] Rugby career

Wilson was first selected for the All Blacks tour to Britain in 1993, making his debut as an All Black against London and SE Division on October 23, 1993 and his test debut against Scotland on November 20, 1993, scoring three tries in that game.

He appeared 71 times for the All Blacks, including 60 tests and played in 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cup, in the positions of wing and fullback. In test matches he scored a total of 234 points: 44 tries, 1 conversion, 3 penalty goals, and 1 drop goal. Wilson played Super 12 rugby for the Highlanders and NPC rugby for Otago and Southland. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2000 Super 12 series, but made a comeback in 2001, playing another 6 test matches before finally retiring in 2002 at the age of 28.

Up until 2002, he held the All Black try scoring record, with 44 tries from his 60 test matches. This was later overtaken by fullback Christian Cullen.

In 2006, Wilson confirmed he would return to Otago RFU in coaching and developmental roles.

[edit] Cricket career

Wilson played his provincial cricket for Otago, as an all-rounder - both a hard-hitting batsman and a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler.

His international appearances were in four games of a series of one-day internationals against Australia in the 1992-93 season, and a full 12 years later, after his Rugby career. Although his statistics are not particularly impressive (103 runs at an average of 20.60 and a strike rate of 92 for batting, and 4 wickets at an economy rate of 6.44 runs per over in bowling), he played a crucial role in a couple of the games. The arrival of the Super 12 rugby competition (which overlaps the cricket season by more than six weeks) forced him to decide which international career to pursue.

Since his retirement from rugby, Wilson resumed playing cricket at the provincial level and on January 12, 2005, was selected once again for the Black Caps team to play a series of one-day games against a World XI in January (although he did not make the on-field team). Selected later in the season his form fell away and his last ODI (to date) was played against Australia in Wellington on 1 March 2005. He has been ruled out of the 2006 domestic cricket season due to bone spurs in his ankle, a lingering injury from his rugby days, leaving his future uncertain.

[edit] Post-retirement

Wilson retired from cricket at the end of the 2005 season, and spent the next few months breeding horses on a farm in Canterbury. In May of 2006 he accepted a position with the Otago Rugby Football Union, where he will promote rugby within the Otago-Southland region in a development role. Rugby officials stated that "it's a brand new position, essentially it's going to be talent identification, a lot of mentoring and coaching one-on-one stuff."[1]

Wilson admitted it was "unlikely" he'd continue his fairytale cricket career after accepting the role.[2]

He also hosts a morning radio show dedicated to promoting sport among the region's young population.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• Jeff Wilson at AllBlacks.com
• New Zealand Rugby Museum biography and career record
• CricInfo article