Adam Thomson

Adam Thomson

Full name	Adam Thomson
Date of birth	(1982-03-13) March 13, 1982 (age 30)
Place of birth	Christchurch, New Zealand
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
School	Christchurch Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Flanker
New Zealand No.	1073
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2004–	Otago	50	(55)
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2006–	Highlanders	52	(75)
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2008–	New Zealand	24	(20)

Adam Thomson (born March 13, 1982) is a New Zealand Rugby union player who plays provincial rugby for Otago, and plays for the Highlanders Super Rugby team. He plays mainly in the number 6 Jersey on the blind side of the scrum. He has been selected for the 2008 All Blacks to play England and Ireland, and made his All Blacks debut against Ireland as a replacement for Rodney So'oialo on 7 June 2008. He is known by fans as the "wooly mammoth" due to his size and hair. He is also known as "Blond Cena" due to his interest in wrestling and his celebration of "You can't see me", a signature taunt/gimmick by John Cena.

Otago

Thomson made his debut for Otago on 17 September 2004 when he started against Waikato. Thomson played four matches in 2004, and started in all of them. Although Thomson did not get the feeling of winning for Otago, he came close when they narrowly lost to Auckland 35–33. The 2005 season with Otago was better in ways for Thomson, playing in five matches, but only starting once. He did enjoy some wins though, one of which came against Wellington. 2006 saw Thomson move to number 8 where he played five matches and enjoyed more wins, like the 56–21 win over North Harbour (Thomson scored one try). Thomson scored another try in 2006 against Southland. In 2007 Thomson moved back to flanker and played nine matches(started all 9), and scored three tries in a season that saw Otago only just winning matches, and going down heavily to the likes of Wellington 68–7 and Canterbury 44–6.

Highlanders

Thomson played in three Super 14 matches for the Highlanders in 2006, playing all three from the bench. He was not selected for the Highlanders in 2007 despite having a good season with Otago in the Air New Zealand Cup. Thomson was recalled in 2008, where he played in twelve matches. At the start of the season he was just a substitute, but he played so well that midway through the Super 14 he was their top choice flanker. Thomson scored five tries in the 2008 Super 14, one came in the triumph over the Crusaders.

All Blacks

Thomson was selected for the Iveco test series in June 2008. He made his debut off the bench against Ireland when he replaced Rodney So'oialo. He then started in the second test against England. He played for the All Blacks during these tests thus selected in the Tri-Nations squad. He has also started the 2009 All Black season at openside flanker filling in for incumbent captain Richie McCaw, before breaking his thumb 30minutes into the game. Thomson was side-lined for the better half of the season before making his comeback against Australia in the final Tri-Nations match, playing at blindside flanker.

New Zealand Rep Teams

• New Zealand Secondary Schools: Thomson played for New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2000
• New Zealand Under 19: Thomson played for New Zealand Under 19 in 2001
• New Zealand Under 21: Thomson played for New Zealand Under 21 in 2003
• New Zealand Sevens  : Thomson played for New Zealand Sevens in 2007

Domestic violence arrest

Thomson was arrested in December 2008 in Havelock North after allegedly assaulting Joanne Holley twice earlier that morning at a wedding reception.

References

• Adam Thomson at AllBlacks.com
• "Forwards". highlanders-rugby.co.nz. http://www.highlanders-rugby.co.nz/page.pasp?pageid=53. Retrieved 2008-05-11. ^{[dead link]}
• itsrugby
• "Adam who?". nzherald.co.nz. 2008-06-02. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10513861. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
• "All Blacks squad announced". allblacks.com. 2008-06-01. http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=displayNews&newsArticle=8067. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
• "Thomson's girlfriend denies assault". tvnz.co.nz. 2008-12-28. http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/all-blacks-girlfriend-denies-being-assaulted-him-2430577. Retrieved 2011-11-19.