Rico Gear

Rugger
name = Rico Gear


caption =
birthname = Rico Levi Gear
nickname = Sneaks
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|2|26
placeofbirth = Gisborne, New Zealand
dateofdeath =
placeofdeath =
height = height|ft=5|in=10.5
weight = 14 st 7 lbs (92 kg)
ru_position = Wing, Centre, Fullback
ru_amateuryears =
ru_amateurclubs =
ru_amupdate =
ru_nationalteam = New Zealand
ru_nationalyears = 2004-present
ru_nationalcaps = 20
ru_nationalpoints = (65)
ru_ntupdate = 2008-01-05
super14update = 2006-11-01
ru_provinceupdate= 2006-11-01
super14 = Crusaders Blues Crusaders Blues
super14years = 2005-2007 2002-2004 2000-2001 1999
super14caps=
super14points=
ru_currentclub= Worcester
ru_province = Tasman Nelson Bays North Harbour Bay of Plenty Auckland Poverty Bay
ru_provinceyears = 1997
ru_provincecaps = 3 3 24 10 5 10
ru_provincepoints=
ru_clubyears = 2007-present
ru_proclubs =Worcester
ru_clubcaps = 19
ru_clubpoints = (60)
ru_clubupdate = 2008-01-05
ru_currentclub = Worcester
ru_sevensnationalyears =
ru_sevensnationalteam =
ru_sevensnationalcaps =
ru_sevensnationalpoints =
ru_sevensupdate =
ru_coachclubs =
ru_coachyears =
ru_coachupdate =
other =
occupation =
family =
spouse =
children =
relatives =
school =
university =

Rico Levi Gear (born 26 February 1978 in Gisborne) is a New Zealand rugby union international player. He is a specialist right wing but can also cover midfield positions. He currently plays for Worcester Warriors in the Guinness Premiership.

Club career

Gear was educated at Gisborne Boys' High; he also studied anthropology at Massey University with an emphasis on Māoridom and Māori language for two years.

Gear made his provincial debut in 1997, playing for Poverty Bay against King Country. He has since played for provincial sides; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, North Harbour and Nelson Bays.

He made his Super 12 debut for the Auckland Blues in 1999 against the Queensland Reds. He also had a stint with the Highlanders, however his career really ignited when he went to the Crusaders at the end of the 2004 season.

Gear played every game in the 2005 season, for the Crusaders, and he scored 15 times for the 2005 champions. He was also named Rebel Sport Super 12 player of the Year and the Tom French Memorial Māori Player of the Year.

He was first choice right wing for the Crusaders in the 2006 Super 14 season. Gear has a younger brother Hosea Gear who plays wing for the Hurricanes.

In June 2007 Gear was signed by Guinness Premiership side Worcester Warriors and is currently playing for them.

Rico Gear is regarded as one of the most dangerous and clinical wingers in world rugby and will be aiming to carve up in the Guinness Premiership during the 2008/09 campaign.

The wing sensation became one of the biggest signing in the club’s long history after agreeing a three-year deal that will keep him at Sixways until 2010.

Gear made a stunning start to his Warriors career with four tries in a match on his full debut - equally the competition record - as Warriors punished Gran Parma and he continued to rack up the tries.

The wing wonder scored one of the most memorable individual tries ever seen at Sixways Stadium with his solo stunner against Bucuresti and also scored a breathtaking one-handed effort against Harlequins at The Stoop.

Despite being hit by a number of unfortunate injuries towards the end of the campaign, Gear still finished the season with a staggering record of 12 tries in only 19 appearances for the club and vowing he would show his real form in the 2008/09 term.

International career

Gear made his international debut on July 10, 2004 in a match against the Pacific Islanders, where he also scored a try. He went on to play in numerous matches against the British and Irish Lions in their 2005 tour of New Zealand. He scored his first All Blacks hat-trick against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in 2005. He also played in the 2006 Tri Nations.

He won a Commonwealth Games gold medal when he was part of the New Zealand Sevens side and also has World Cup Sevens medals.

He was rumoured to be the fastest player in the All Blacks over 100 meters clocking 10.7 seconds in 2005, which was arguably his best season for both the Crusaders and the All Blacks.

In spite of appearances in the All Blacks in the 2007 season, Gear was omitted from the Rugby World Cup squad, announced on 22 July 2007. Doug Howlett was selected in his place.

In all he scored 26 tries in 16 caps for the All Blacks.

External links

* [http://stats.allblacks.com/Profile.asp?ABID=1043 All Blacks Profile] at [http://www.allblacks.com/ AllBlacks.com]
* [http://www.wrfc.co.uk/1466_1459.php Worcester Warriors Profile] at [http://www.wrfc.co.uk/ WRFC.co.uk]
* [http://www.guinnesspremiership.com/112_146.php?player=12468&includeref=dynamic Guinness Premiership Profile] at [http://www.guinnesspremiership.com/ GuinnessPremiership.com]