Geoff Cridge

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Geoff Cridge
Full nameGeoffrey Owen Cridge
Date of birth (1995-02-06) 6 February 1995 (age 27)
Place of birthChristchurch, New Zealand
Height2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb)
SchoolChristchurch Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Current team Hawke's Bay, Waratahs
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014− Hawke's Bay 59 (30)
2015–2019 Hurricanes 1 (0)
2022 Waratahs 0 (0)
Correct as of 22 January 2022
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2015 New Zealand U20 8 (10)
Correct as of 30 October 2016

Geoffrey Cridge (born 6 February 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a lock for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition[1] and the Waratahs in Super Rugby.

Early career[]

Born and raised in the city of Christchurch, Cridge was educated at the prestigious Christchurch Boys' High School where he played first XV rugby for 2 years. During his high school years, he also represented Canterbury at under-15, under-16 and under-18 level before heading north to Hawke's Bay after graduation to start playing club rugby for Hastings.[2]

Senior career[]

After initially being a member of the Hawke's Bay development and under-20 sides, Cridge graduated to the senior team to make one appearance during the 2014 ITM Cup. Injury ruled him out of the Magpies promotion winning season of 2015, but he bounced back in 2016 to claim a place as a regular in the starting XV. Helped out by an injury to established lock, Michael Allardice, Cridge stepped up to partner Hurricanes team-mate, Mark Abbott in the Magpies second row. He played all 10 of Hawke's Bay's games during the 2016 season and contributed 2 tries.[3]

During the following seasons, Cridge cemented himself in the Magpies' starting line-up. During the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season, the Magpies won the Ranfurly Shield (taking it off Otago),[4] were successful in three more Ranfurly Shield defences (against Northland, Manawatu and Wellington), and won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship, thus securing a well-deserved promotion to the Premiership division.[5] The Magpies held on to the Shield during the entire 2021 Bunnings NPC season, winning all six Ranfurly Shield defences.[6]

Super Rugby[]

Cridge spent time with the Wellington-based Hurricanes as part of their apprenticeship program in 2014 and made such a good impression that after only 1 domestic appearance for Hawke's Bay, new franchise head-coach, Chris Boyd handed him a 3-year contract ahead of the 2015 Super Rugby season.[7] Unsurprisingly, given his lack of experience and the amount of talent on the Hurricanes books, he didn't make any senior appearances through 2015.

He did manage to get on the field for his Super Rugby debut in 2016, as a substitute in a 42-20 win over South African side, the Southern Kings on 25 March 2016. It would prove to be his only appearance of the campaign, but his team were in great form during the year and with Michael Fatialofa and Vaea Fifita nailing down the 2 second row jerseys, it was hard for the youngster to break into a side which went on to be crowned Super Rugby champions following a 20-3 victory over the Lions in the final.[3]

Despite several strong seasons for Hawke's Bay in the following years, Cridge had to wait until 2022 for a new Super Rugby contract. While not announced in their original squad, he was announced as a reinforcement of the Waratahs squad for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season on 21 January 2022.[8]

International career[]

Cridge was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 sides which competed in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in his home country and the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Italy. He played 4 times as New Zealand finished 3rd in 2014 and then scored a try in his only appearance in the title winning side of 2015.[9][10][11][12]

Career Honours[]

New Zealand Under-20

Hurricanes

Hawke's Bay Magpies

  • ITM Cup Championship - 2015
  • Mitre 10 Cup Championship - 2020

Super Rugby Statistics[]

As of 24 January 2017[3]
Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Cons Pens Drops Points Yel Red
2015 Hurricanes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2016 Hurricanes 1 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022 Waratahs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References[]

  1. ^ "2021 Magpies Squad". Hawke's Bay Rugby Union. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Rugby: Big move to Bay pays well for Cridge". Hawke's Bay Today. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Geoffrey Cridge itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Ranfurly Shield roundabout continues". New Zealand Rugby. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Magpies crowned kings of the Championship". New Zealand Rugby. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. ^ "NPC: Hawke's Bay lock away Ranfurly Shield for summer after seeing off Waikato". Stuff NZ. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Young talent graduates from apprentice program". Hurricanes Rugby. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  8. ^ "NSW Waratahs bolster forward pack ahead of 2022 campaign" (Press release). Waratahs. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Geoff Cridge IRB JWC Player Profile". IRB.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Geoff Cridge New Zealand Under-20 Player Profile". All Blacks.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  11. ^ "NZU20 squad named for IRB JWC2014". All Blacks.com. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  12. ^ "NZ Under 20 squad named for World Champs in Italy". All Blacks.com. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.

External links[]

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