I started playing rugby at 9 years old. My grandmother was a kiwi and got me interested in rugby through the All Blacks as a child. In my early years as a player I was in the backs - mainly in the centres and on the wing – then as I got bigger and slower I gravitated towards the forwards. My first year in seniors was at hooker and from that point on, until I stopped playing in 2010, the front row was my home.

After winning the premiership with my team as a player in 2010, I retired from playing and turned my hand to coaching in an assistant’s role as a scrum coach. In 2012 I moved to the USA and worked with a team in Denver in the Division 1 and Elite Cup competitions as attack coach, scrum coach and video analyst. From 2014 to 2017 I held various coaching roles in Germany across all age groups including coordinating the „Get Into Rugby“ schools programme in Frankfurt and also worked as head coach of the SC Frankfurt 1880 mens senior team playing in the Bundesliga 1st division. More recently I returned to the USA where I coached a mens team, a high school team and an academy side made up of 15-17 year olds in Chicago. I also completed my World Rugby Level 3 certification last year.

I am very excited to join Pingvin Rugby Club as Youth Director as I believe that building a club from the bottom up plays a major role in long term success. I am also really looking forward to spreading the great game of rugby to the young players of tomorrow.

/Daniel