Name Geoffrey Cridge Role Rugby Player | Height 2.01 m Weight 105 kg | |
 | ||
Education Christchurch Boys' High School | ||
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 and the Hurricanes in the international Super Rugby competition.
Contents
- Early career
- Senior career
- Super Rugby
- International career
- Career Honours
- Super Rugby Statistics
- References
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.
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.
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. 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 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.
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.
Career Honours
New Zealand Under-20
Hurricanes
Hawke's Bay Magpies