Mitchell Drummond

Mitchell David Drummond (born 15 February 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a halfback for Canterbury in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Crusaders in the international Super Rugby competition.[1][2][3][4]

Mitchell Drummond

Full name	Mitchell David Drummond
Date of birth	(1994-02-15) 15 February 1994
Place of birth	Nelson, New Zealand
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb; 13 st 12 lb)
School	Nelson College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Half-back Current team Canterbury, Crusaders All Black No. 1169 Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2013– Canterbury 49 (74) 2014– Crusaders 72 (75) Correct as of 14 April 2019 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2014 New Zealand U20 4 (10) 2017 Barbarian F.C. 1 (0) 2017–2018 New Zealand 2 (0) Correct as of 14 April 2019

Early career

Born and raised in Nelson on New Zealand's South Island, Drummond went on to attend Nelson College in his hometown where he captained their rugby first XV. During his high school years, he represented his province at both rugby and cricket before focusing solely on rugby after graduation. After many years in the Tasman youth structures, he moved to Christchurch and joined the Canterbury Rugby Academy in 2013.[1][4]

Senior career

Drummond was first named in Canterbury's 2013 ITM Cup squad where the then 19-year old largely served as back-up to the more experienced Andy Ellis and Willi Heinz. He managed only 1 appearance during the campaign, as a substitute against Manawatu, however Ellis' departure for Japan in 2014 saw him get far more game time in rotation with Heinz. He played 10 games during the season, 5 of which came from the start and netted 7 points as Canterbury were disappointingly knocked out in the ITM Cup semi-finals by local rivals, Tasman.

Willi Heinz's departure for Gloucester in 2015, left the 21-year old Drummond as Canterbury's undisputed first choice in the number 9 jersey. He went on to play all 12 of Canterbury's games during their 2015 title winning season which culminated with a 25-23 victory over Auckland in the final. 2016 saw a reversal of fortunes for him as a broken leg picked up in training resulted in him playing only the first three games of the year as his side marched to their 8th provincial title in 9 seasons.[1][2]

Super Rugby

After just one provincial appearance for Canterbury, Drummond was selected in the Crusaders squad ahead of the 2014 season.[5][6] Unsurprisingly, his first season at Super Rugby level saw him sit behind his experienced Canterbury teammates, Ellis and Heinz, in the queue for the starting halfback role and like his debut provincial season, he had to make do with a solitary substitute appearance, this time against the Melbourne Rebels.

Building on from his learning experiences in 2014, Drummond was far more of a regular in 2015. Willi Heinz was ruled out of the entire season through injury and Drummond largely served as back up to Andy Ellis, playing 15 times, including 7 starts and scoring 2 tries as the Crusaders finished in 7th place on the log, just outside the play off places. 2016 again saw him act as back up to the experienced Ellis, who was in his final season with the franchise. Drummond scored an impressive 4 tries in 13 games of which he started 5 as the Crusaders reached the competition's quarter-finals before losing out 42-25 to the Lions in Johannesburg.[2] He was retained in the squad for the 2017 season where he would face competition from new-arrival from the Blues, Bryn Hall for a place in the starting XV.[3]

International

Drummond made the New Zealand Barbarians secondary schools team in 2012 and was also a member of the New Zealand Under-20 which finished 3rd in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in his home country, scoring 2 tries in 4 matches during the tournament.[7][8][9]

Drummond was selected for the Barbarians in 2017, coming off the bench against New Zealand. Drummond and some other Barbarians representatives joined New Zealand's squad following the match, with Drummond making his debut for the All Blacks only 10 days later against a French XV, replacing the departing Tawera Kerr-Barlow with 10 minutes left. The All Blacks won against the French XV, 28-23 and Drummond was one of five debutants that day, all of whom had represented the Barbarians against their new team-mates the week prior.

A year on from his international debut, Drummond was re-called to the All Blacks, as a member of Steve Hansen's 51-man squad, travelling to the Northern Hemisphere for the 2018 end-of-year tour. As a member of the wider training squad, Drummond remained in Japan after the first-choice team travelled to Europe. He played his first test for New Zealand during the wider training squad's time in Japan, replacing fellow rookie, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 59 minutes into the test against Japan, on 3 November 2018. The All Blacks won the test by 69-31, with Drummond being one of eight players, including his Crusaders team-mates, George Bridge and Brett Cameron, making their test debut for New Zealand.[10]

Career honours

Canterbury

• National Provincial Championship - 2013, 2015, 2016

Super Rugby statistics

As of 23 December 2016[2]

Season	Team	Games	Starts	Sub	Mins	Tries	Cons	Pens	Drops	Points	Yel	Red
2014	Crusaders	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015	Crusaders	15	7	8	533	2	0	0	0	10	1	0
2016	Crusaders	13	5	8	455	4	0	0	0	20	0	0
Total		29	12	17	990	6	0	0	0	30	1	0

References

1. "Mitchell Drummond Canterbury Player Profile". Canterbury Rugby. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
2. "Mitchell Drummond itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
3. "Crusaders 2017 Squad Guide" (PDF). All Blacks.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
4. "Mitchell Drummond Crusaders Player Profile". Crusaders Rugby. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
5. "2014 Investec Super Rugby Crusaders squad announced". Crusaders Rugby. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
6. "Crusaders to unleash giant Fijian winger". TVNZ. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
7. "NZU20 squad named for IRB JWC2014". All Blacks.com. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
8. "NZSchools team named for internationals". All Blacks.com. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
9. "Mitchell Drummond All Blacks Player Profile". All Blacks.com. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
10. "All Blacks: Steve Hansen pleased with rookies in Japan win". Newshub. Retrieved 15 February 2019.