Luke McAlister – Player Profile
Charles Luke McAlister, more popularly known as only Luke McAlister, plays for the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). He has played rugby for the All Blacks, the Blues and the North Harbour teams under the NZRU flag. He has also played with the Sale Sharks
under the English rugby union. The positions he has played include fly-half and the inside center.
McAlister was born in 1983 at Waitara, New Zealand. He completed his schooling at the Westlake Boys High School, while also playing rugby at the school. His father was also a rugby player for Manchester United Academy. His growing years were thus spent near
and around rugby. In 2002, he finally joined the rugby world, starting his rugby career with the North Harbour team after he had played for the Silverdale’s team.
The player’s performance during his first season earned him the International Rugby Board (IRB)’s Under-19 Player of the Year award. His performances and achievements brought him into the Super 14 and the Blues’ in 2004. He played with the Blues for a total
of five years, amidst which he was declared the leading scorer in the Super 14 for 2005.
His first international game was with the All Blacks and for Rugby World Cup (RWC) of 2007. He played four out of five matches from the All Blacks schedule of RWC 2007, amassing a score of 17 during the tournament. These matches included the loss of 20-18,
in the quarter-final against France, in which McAlister caused a penalty in the favour of the opposition.
Meanwhile, McAlister also revealed that after the RWC 2007, he would join up with the Sale Sharks of England. The teams Toulouse and Munster were also in the running for obtaining McAlister but the player joined the Sharks. This contract was signed by McAlister
in order to play the Guinness Premiership for two years.
His feats under the Sharks and the Guinness Premiership cup were appreciated by all but instead of renewing his contract with the Sharks in 2009, McAlister opted to go back to the NZRU to play under the Blues and New Zealand teams. He also played for the
All Blacks in June 2009, in which he was a substitute for regular All Blacks player and fly-half, Stephen Donald. However, he was unable to make the regular squad of the All Blacks the same year.
Overall, he has played over 30 matches under his time with the New Zealand Rugby Union. Furthermore, he has recently played an excellent season of the Super Rugby tournament 2011. The plans are now in gear for the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2011 and even before
that is the ITM championship 2011, starting on July 15. McAlister was chosen to play in this national cup, but he was ousted when he did not show up at the training camp for the Blues match against the Otago team.
The player and fly-half of Blues is now planning to leave the NZRU after the RWC 2011 in order to sign on with Toulouse, a French rugby union team. This new contract with the Toulouse will be for three years and McAlister will help the team play in the Top
14 tournament’s 2011-2012 season. His departure has left caused a commotion with NZRU and the French team with the controversy finally coming to a close with the player moving to Fance.
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