Mitchell Drummond

Mitchell David Drummond (born 15 February 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a halfback for in the Bunnings NPC.

Early career

Born and raised in Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand, Drummond attended Nelson College where he captained their top side. During his school years, he represented his province at both rugby and cricket before focusing solely on rugby after graduation. After many years in the youth structures, he moved to Christchurch and joined the Rugby Academy in 2013. Unsurprisingly, his first season at Super Rugby level saw him sit behind his experienced Canterbury teammates, Ellis and Heinz, in the queue for the starting halfback role and like his debut provincial season, he only managed a single substitute appearance, this time against the Melbourne Rebels.

Building from his learning experiences in 2014, Drummond was far more of a regular in 2015. Willi Heinz was ruled out of the entire season through injury and Drummond largely served as back up to Andy Ellis, playing 15 times, including 7 starts and scoring 2 tries as the Crusaders finished in 7th place on the table, just outside the play off places. 2016 again saw him act as back up to the experienced Ellis, who was in his final season with the franchise. Drummond scored an impressive 4 tries in 13 games of which he started 5 as the Crusaders reached the competition's quarter finals before losing 42-25 to the in Johannesburg.

Drummond was selected for the Barbarians in 2017, coming off the bench against New Zealand. Drummond and some other Barbarians representatives joined New Zealand's squad following the match, with Drummond making his debut for the All Blacks only 10 days later replacing the departing Tawera Kerr-Barlow with 10 minutes left. The All Blacks won against the French side, 28-23 and Drummond was one of five debutants that day, all of whom had represented the Barbarians against their new team mates the week prior.

A year on from his international debut, Drummond was re called to the All Blacks, as a member of Steve Hansen's 51 man squad, travelling to the Northern Hemisphere for the 2018 end-of-year tour. As a member of the wider training squad, Drummond remained in Japan after the first choice team travelled to Europe. He played his first test for New Zealand during the wider training squad's time in Japan, replacing fellow rookie, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 59 minutes into the test against Japan, on 3 November 2018. The All Blacks won the test by 69-31, with Drummond being one of eight players, including his Crusaders team mates, George Bridge and Brett Cameron, making their test debut for New Zealand.