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| Birth name | Thomas James Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1989-03-11)11 March 1989 (age 36) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st 2 lb; 198 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Burnside High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Warwick Taylor (father) Murray Taylor (uncle) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thomas James Taylor (born 11 March 1989) is a New Zealandrugby union footballer. He played as asecond five-eighth orfirst five-eighth for theCrusaders inSuper Rugby.[1] andCanterbury in theITM Cup. He can also playfullback.
He made his debut for the New Zealand national side, theAll Blacks, in 2013.
In the 2009, affiliated with theCanterbury ITM side,[2] Taylor was involved in the championNew Zealand Under 20 team[3] along withZac Guildford[4]
In 2011 Taylor debuted for Canterbury againstNorth Otago.[5] He trained with the Crusaders[6] and was part of the Canterbury squad that went on to win that year'sITM Cup Championship final againstWaikato.[3]
In November 2011 he was named in the Crusaders squad[6] for2012. In his first start, against theCheetahs in March 2012, Taylor opened the Crusaders scoring with a penalty six minutes in. He had a successful game with the boot and ended up converting the game's final try, for Crusaders to win 28–21.[7] The next week, playing at second five-eighth against theLions,[8] he kicked two penalties and three conversions[citation needed] and the Crusaders won 23–13.[8] On 14 April he was back at first five-eighth to help the Crusaders end theStormers unbeaten run.[9] Taylor scored a try, converted it, and kicked eight penalties from eight attempts.[citation needed]
In 2013, Taylor made his debut for the All Blacks, starting ahead ofColin Slade at first five-eighth in the secondRugby Championship/Bledisloe Cup match againstAustralia after injuries toAaron Cruden,Beauden Barrett andDan Carter. He kicked four penalty goals and a conversion goal (14 points) to help the All Blacks to a 27–16 win atWellington'sWestpac Stadium.[10]
In March 2015, Taylor announced that he would join French Top 14 Rugby Club Bayonne.[11]
In 2010 Taylor was studying towards his Bachelor of Science in geography at theUniversity of Canterbury.[3]
Taylor's relatives include fatherWarwick, a second five-eighth,[6] who played for Canterbury from 1982 to 1990 and the All Blacks from 1983 to 1988, and uncleMurray Taylor, a first five-eighth who played for the All Blacks[3] in 1979 and 1980.