Crusaders

Thorne to move to Japan

on

 


 

Former All Blacks captain Reuben Thorne is moving to Japan so that he can spend more time with his family of four.


Thorne, his two children and wife Kate will move to an apartment in the city of Iwata where he will take up a lucrative contract with the Yamaha Club.


The Thorne’s plan to leave New Zealand at the end of this year’s Super 14 season in May.


“There was a time when we didn’t think we would go overseas,” Thorne says in this week’s edition of New Idea magazine.


“As a player you get to a point where you’ve done all you can in New Zealand and this opportunity came up.


“We’ll be able to put a lot of time into the kids.”


Kate, sister of former All Black and Canterbury super boot Andrew Mehrtens, is quoted by the Sunday News and says that many people thought the life of a rugby wife was all glamour.


But with a husband away a lot and raising two children Angus, three and Lucy, 17 months it was sometimes tough being a rugby widow.


Kate said living in Japan would be a great experience for all the family.


Thorne first played in the then-Super 12 with the Crusaders in 1998 and took over the leadership in 2002 leading them to victory in an unprecedented “perfect” season.


Thorne took over from an injured Anton Oliver and was All Blacks captain in 2002 and in 2003 when Australia knocked New Zealand out of the World Cup.

 

Super14.com

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.