Tom Taylor (rugby union)

In the 2009, affiliated with the Canterbury ITM side,[2] Taylor was involved in the champion New Zealand Under 20 team[3] along with Zac Guildford[4]

In 2011 Taylor debuted for Canterbury against North Otago.[5] He trained with the Crusaders[6] and was part of the Canterbury squad that went on to win that year's ITM Cup Championship final against Waikato.[3]

In November 2011 he was named in the Crusaders squad[6] for 2012. In his first start, against the Cheetahs in March 2012, Taylor opened the Crusaders scoring with a penalty six minutes in. He had a successful game with the boot and ended up converting the game's final try, for Crusaders to win 28–21.[7] The next week, playing at second five-eighth against the Lions,[8] he kicked two penalties and three conversions and the Crusaders won 23–13.[8] On 14 April he was back at first five-eighth to help the Crusaders end the Stormers unbeaten run.[9] Taylor scored a try, converted it, and kicked eight penalties from eight attempts.

In 2013, Taylor made his debut for the All Blacks, starting ahead of Colin Slade at first five-eighth in the second Rugby Championship/Bledisloe Cup match against Australia after injuries to Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter. He kicked four penalty goals and a conversion goal (14 points) to help the All Blacks to a 27–16 win at Wellington's Westpac Stadium.[10]

In March 2015, Taylor announced that he would join French Top 14 Rugby Club Bayonne.[11]

In 2010 Taylor was studying towards his Bachelor of Science in geography at the University of Canterbury.[3]

Taylor's relatives include father Warwick, a second five-eighth,[6] who played for Canterbury from 1982 to 1990 and the All Blacks from 1983 to 1988, and uncle Murray Taylor, a first five-eighth who played for the All Blacks[3] in 1979 and 1980.

• Tom Taylor at AllBlacks.com
• Tom Taylor Crusaders Player Profile
• Tom Taylor Canterbury Player Profile