Shane Howarth
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Shane Paul Howarth (born 8 July 1968) was a New Zealand born international rugby union player who gained 4 caps and scored 54 points for the All Blacks before later switching allegiance to Wales, attaining 19 Welsh caps.
An outside-half or full-back, he was a prolific goal-kicker and a fast elusive runner. He scored 23 points for Wales including a try in the 32-31 win against England in 1999 played at Wembley as the Millennium Stadium was under construction in Cardiff.
Howarth was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He played for the Auckland Marist club and Auckland. He made his All Black debut against South Africa in 1994 and played in three tests in the series.
He moved to England to play for Sale at outside-half. There was then a tug-of-war between various nations for him to play for them, but he chose Wales.
Howarth moved to Newport RFC in 1999 and played for the club until 2003, during which time he helped the Black & Ambers win the WRU Principality Cup. He became their joint record points scorer with 1,035.
In 2000 it was discovered that his grandfather was not born in Wales but New Zealand, and he was ineligible to play for Wales. The scandal that followed was termed "grannygate" and Howarth was banned from representing Wales.
He retired at the end of 2003 and later coached Auckland and the All Blacks. Howarth could have qualified for Wales through residency before he retired but by then the IRB had changed the rules so that players could only represent one country.
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