Taine Randell

Rugger
name = Taine Randell


caption =
birthname = Taine Cheyenne Randell
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|05|11
placeofbirth = Hastings, New Zealand
allblackno = 949
allblackid = 720
dateofdeath =
placeofdeath =
height = height|m=1.88
weight = convert|110|kg|stlb|abbr=on
ru_position = Flanker|capital=yes, Number 8|capital=yes
ru_amateuryears =
ru_amateurclubs =
ru_amupdate =
ru_nationalteam = flagicon|NZ New Zealand
ru_nationalyears = 1997–2002
ru_nationalcaps = 51
ru_nationalpoints = (60)
ru_ntupdate =
super14 = flagicon|NZ HIGru
super14caps =77
super14points = (-)
super14years = 1996–2003
super14update = 2007-01-22
ru_province = flagicon|NZ Otago
ru_provinceyears = 1992–2002
ru_provincecaps =83
ru_provincepoints = (-)
ru_provinceupdate = 2007-01-22
ru_clubyears = 2003–2006
ru_proclubs = flagicon|ENG Saracens
ru_clubcaps = -
ru_clubpoints =(-)
ru_clubupdate =
ru_currentclub =
other = yes
occupation =
family =
spouse =
children =
relatives =
school =
university =

Taine Randell is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He was a highly versatile loose forward and a former All Black Captain.

ummary

In his 61 game tenure as an All Black he played 51 tests, including 22 as captain. He also captained Otago in the National Provincial Championship (NPC) at the age of 19. His All Black debut was versus Italy 'A' at the age of 20, and his test debut versus Fiji, age 22. In his time as an All Black he scored 12 tries for a total of 60 points. He was widely regarded as one of the most versatile of All Blacks forwards as he was highly mobile. In essence a back trapped in a forwards body.

Early career

Randell excelled as a rugby player, cricketer, and student at Lindisfarne College near Hastings and in 1992 he went to the University of Otago where he completed degrees in law and commerce. He played for Otago in the NPC and the Otago Highlanders in 1996 in the opening season of the Super 14

Taine played his first game for the All Blacks in 1995 against an Italy A selection.

Taine Randall was selected as captain to replace the legendary Sean Fitzpatrick by the new coach John Hart in 1998 at which time he was 23 years old. At the time there was some controversy about this selection as Randall was quite young and inexperienced and it is not clear that he himself wanted to be captain. It is widely supposed that Hart wanted to select a new captain who had not been an all black under former coach Laurie Mains. He was 21 when he first captained the All Blacks in South Africa in 1996 in four non-test games and only 23 when he first captained the All Blacks vs England in 1998.

In 1999, Taine had an excellent domestic season playing for and Captaining the Otago Highlanders whom he led to an 8-3 regular season record and subsequently to the 1999 Super 12 Final of the Super 14 where they lost to the Canterbury Crusaders in a closely fought match 24-19. Taine captained the Highlanders for seven years from 1997 to 2003. These were the glory years for the Highlanders when they were consistently competitive. Since Taine left the team has not fared nearly so well.

Taine Randall's low moment came during the 1999 Rugby World Cup where he led the team during the famous defeat to France in the semi-final during which microphones at the side of the pitch picked up Randall complaining about being bitten by French forwards (All Black code requires that the captain would deal with this). In New Zealand the loss to France was considered an insult given that the team had been heavily favored to win. The reaction was swift, savage and sometimes nasty. Coach John Hart, a fine coach and a decent man, was vilified in radio talkback shows and angry racegoers even spat on a horse he owned as it left the track. Randell fled New Zealand to spend over a month in Florida in the United States away from the negative media spotlight that inevitably comes with any All Blacks loss.

After this defeat, Todd Blackadder became captain, although Taine retained his place in the team for 2000 and 2001.

Later career

When John Mitchell and Robbie Deans took over the coaching of the All Blacks from Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert in October 2001 it soon became clear Randell's All Black days were numbered. He missed all of the 2002 Tri-Nations series and although after an excellent Super 12 season in 2002 he was recalled to captain the All Blacks on the end of the year tour of England, France and Wales that appeared to be a token gesture. The All Blacks side was grossly under strength on this tour and as Captain Randell was on a hiding to nothing. The tour resulted in 1 win against Wales (his last test as Captain), a draw with France, and a loss to England. Randell's only satisfaction had been to raise his test appearances past 50. Despite good Super 12 form with the Highlanders, it soon became plain Randell was not in any reckoning for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Taine then left the All Blacks and New Zealand just before the 2003 Rugby World Cup (in which he did not play and once it was clear he was not going to be selected) and he relocated with his family to Central London. He signed with the English Premier League Team Saracens in August 2003 but retired at the end of their 2005-2006 season, despite offers from Saracens to return to play in the 2006-07 Season. During his final year at Saracens Taine said he was accused of being lazy and not running at players enough.

Post Rugby Career

Taine is pursuing a career in finance and has been a commodity broker in London since mid-2006. He is married to Jo, and they have two young boys. He also became a part owner in the "big easy" on the Kings road. This was reputedly due to the amount of food he consumed there.

Unlike many former other All Blacks he is pursuing a post All Black career away from the rugby talk-show, commentary, or coaching route.

Taine Randell and the Haka

Following the likes of captain Zinzan Brooke Taine had some very large shoes to fill and did so in an exemplary manner. His passion can be seen right from the off with his matches in charge of the All Blacks, by his aggression and forcefulness in leading the team in the "haka"

The All Blacks have since taken the Haka to a new level but without the likes of Samoan All Black Tana Umaga and Piri Weepu following in the footsteps of Taine Randell by performing with such passion and aggression the haka would never have been what it is today.

External links

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* [http://www.scrum.com/players/randell.asp Profile at scrum.com]