Geoff Cridge

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 Mitre 10 Cup.[1][2][3][4][5]

Geoff Cridge

Full name	Geoffrey Owen Cridge
Date of birth	6 February 1995
Place of birth	Christchurch, New Zealand
Height	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb)
School	Christchurch Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock Current team Hawke's Bay, Hurricanes Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2014− Hawke's Bay 49 (20) 2015–2019 Hurricanes 1 (0) Correct as of 2 December 2020 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2014–2015 New Zealand U20 8 (10) Correct as of 30 October 2016

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.[6]

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, however, this was not enough to save them from relegation back to the Mitre 10 Cup Championship division for 2017, as they finished bottom of the Premiership log with just 2 wins from 10 games.[4]

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.[4]

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.[8][9][10][11]

Career Honours

New Zealand Under-20

• World Rugby Under 20 Championship - 2015

Hurricanes

• Super Rugby - 2016

Hawke's Bay Magpies

• ITM Cup Championship - 2015

Super Rugby Statistics

As of 24 January 2017[4]

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
Total		1	0	1	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

References

1. "Geoffrey Cridge Hurricanes Player Profile". Hurricanes Rugby. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
2. "Geoffrey Cridge Hawke's Bay Magpies Player Profile". Magpies Rugby. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
3. "Hurricanes 2017 Squad Guide" (PDF). All Blacks.com. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
4. "Geoffrey Cridge itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
5. "Geoff Cridge ESPN Scrum Player Profile". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
6. "Rugby: Big move to Bay pays well for Cridge". Hawke's Bay Today. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
7. "Young talent graduates from apprentice program". Hurricanes Rugby. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
8. "Geoff Cridge IRB JWC Player Profile". IRB.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
9. "Geoff Cridge New Zealand Under-20 Player Profile". All Blacks.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
10. "NZU20 squad named for IRB JWC2014". All Blacks.com. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
11. "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.