Taine Randell facts for kids

Taine Randell (born November 5, 1974) is a retired rugby union player from New Zealand. He was known for playing as a versatile loose forward, which is a key position in rugby. Taine also had the important role of captaining the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team, from 1996 to 1999.

During his time with the All Blacks, Taine played in 61 games. Fifty-one of these were "test matches," which are official international games. He was captain in 22 of these test matches. He also captained the Otago team in the National Provincial Championship (NPC) when he was only 19 years old. Taine scored 12 tries for the All Blacks, earning a total of 60 points.

Taine Randell's Early Rugby Career

Taine Randell was a very talented student and athlete at Lindisfarne College. He was great at rugby and cricket. He even played for the school's top rugby team, the First XV, starting when he was just 14 years old.

In 1992, Taine went to the University of Otago. There, he studied both law and business. While at university, he continued to play rugby for the University of Otago team. When he was only 17 years old, he was chosen to play for the Otago team in the National Provincial Championship.

In 1993, Taine made history by becoming the youngest player ever to captain the Otago team. He was just 19 years and 152 days old. The next year, in 1994, he was chosen to be the captain of the New Zealand Colts, a team for young, promising players. In 1996, he joined the Otago Highlanders for the very first season of the Super 14 competition.

Taine played his first game for the All Blacks in 1995 against a team from Italy. He was 21 when he first captained the All Blacks in non-test games in South Africa in 1996. He was only 23 when he first captained them in a test match against England in 1998. The new coach, John Hart, chose Taine to replace the famous captain Sean Fitzpatrick. Some people thought Taine was too young and didn't have enough experience for such a big role.

In 1999, Taine led the Otago Highlanders to a great season. They reached the 1999 Super 12 Final, but they lost a very close game to the Canterbury Crusaders by a score of 24–19. Taine was the captain of the Highlanders for seven years, from 1997 to 2003.

A difficult moment for Taine came during the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He was captain when the All Blacks lost to France in the semi-final match. After this tough loss, Taine went to Florida in the United States for a month to get away from the public attention. After this, Todd Blackadder became the All Blacks captain, but Taine still played for the team from 2000 to 2002.

Taine Randell's Later Career in Rugby

In October 2001, when John Mitchell and Robbie Deans became the new coaches of the All Blacks, Taine Randell was not chosen for the team. He missed all the games in the 2002 Tri-Nations series. However, he played very well in the 2002 Super 12 season. This good performance earned him a spot back on the All Blacks team. He was even chosen to captain the team again for a tour to England, France, and Wales at the end of 2002.

On that tour, the All Blacks won one game against Wales (which was Taine's last test match as captain). They had a draw with France and lost to England. During this tour, Taine played his 50th test match for the All Blacks. He continued to play for the Highlanders team. He left New Zealand before the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

After leaving New Zealand, Taine moved with his family to London, England. In August 2003, he signed a contract to play for the English Premier League team, Saracens Rugby Club. He played for Saracens until the end of the 2005–2006 season, when he decided to retire from rugby.

Life After Rugby for Taine Randell

After finishing his rugby career, Taine Randell started a new path in finance. He worked as a successful commodity broker in London for a few years. He also became a part-owner in a restaurant called big easy on the Kings Road.

Since 2010, Taine has been a director for the Kahungunu Asset Holding Company. This company owns a part of the Fiordland Lobster Company, which is New Zealand's biggest exporter of live crayfish. They sell their crayfish under the brand name KiwiLobster.

Taine Randell's Personal Life

Taine Randell was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He is of Ngāti Kahungunu and Waikato Tainui Māori descent. He is married to Jo Edwards, and they have two sons and one daughter. At the end of 2008, Taine and his family moved back to Havelock North, New Zealand.

See also

In Spanish: Taine Randell para niños