Brad Shields

Bradley David Fenner Shields (born 2 April 1991) is a rugby union player for Wellington in the Bunnings NPC and Hurricanes. He played 8 times for the England national rugby union team in 2018 and 2019. In November 2017 he signed with Wasps before returning to New Zealand in 2023.

Early career

Born in the town of Masterton, New Zealand, Shields attended Taita College in the suburb of Lower Hutt where he played first XV rugby and served as deputy head boy. After finishing high school, he began playing for Petone in Wellington's local club rugby competition while also captaining at under-20 level. Wasps entered administration on 17 October 2022 and Shields was made redundant along with all other players and coaching staff.

A move to the French Top 14 side USA Perpignan was confirmed on 26 October 2022.

Super Rugby Shields playing for the Hurricanes in the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific final, alongside Isaia Walker-Leawere and Brayden Iose. With just a little over a season's experience of provincial rugby under his belt, Shields was signed to a Super Rugby contract with the ahead of the 2012 season. Faced with stiff competition for a place in the starting line up from the likes of Jack Lam, Faifili Levave, Karl Lowe and Victor Vito, he acquitted himself well and went on to play 13 times during his debut season of Super Rugby, with 10 of these appearances coming from the replacements bench.

Shields enjoyed a breakout year in 2013, playing in all 16 of the Hurricanes games, including 13 starts and 3 tries before a knee injury hindered him in 2014, restricting him to only 6 matches.

The Hurricanes were one of Super Rugby's form teams through 2015 and 2016, finishing as runner-up in 2015 following a 21–14 home defeat to the , before finally getting their hands on the trophy at the end of the 2016 season after a 20–3 victory over the in the final. Shields featured heavily in both campaigns, playing 18 times in 2015 and 16 times in 2016 as well as contributing 2 tries in each season. With this, he became the first Hurricanes player to win two Super Rugby titles (the first in 2016).

International

Shields was a New Zealand Under-17 representative in 2008 before being a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which won the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy, scoring 1 try in 5 matches at the tournament. He had been named in All Blacks training squads in 2012 and 2016, but did not go on to make his senior international debut.

On 5 November 2016, Shields featured for the Barbarians in their 31–31 draw against at Wembley Stadium. He played the entire 80 minutes in the number 6 jersey in a side containing his Hurricanes teammates, Reggie Goodes and Michael Fatialofa.

On 9 June 2018, he made his debut for England, coming on as a replacement in England's narrow defeat against South Africa at Ellis Park. He was then named as a starter for the second test against South Africa the following week.

Shields started once in the 2019 Six Nations Championship against and featured twice more from the bench. Shields missed selection for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, having been ruled out of contention for the competition through injury. Uncapped player, Lewis Ludlam, was called in as a replacement for Shields during warmup fixtures. He has not featured in an international since.

International tries

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score 1 London, England Twickenham Stadium 2019 Six Nations Win 57 – 14 2

Career honours

New Zealand Under-20

IRB Junior World Championship - 2011

Hurricanes

Super Rugby - 2016 Super Rugby - 2026

Super Rugby statistics

Season Team Games Starts Sub Mins Tries Cons Pens Drops Points Yel Red 2012 13 3 10 457 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2013 16 13 3 992 3 0 0 0 15 0 0 2014 6 2 4 233 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 2015 18 15 3 1151 2 0 0 0 10 0 0 2016 16 16 0 1140 2 0 0 0 10 0 0Total 69 49 20 3973 8 0 0 0 40 0 0