Sam Henwood

Samuel Tamihana Henwood (born 28 March 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He is nephew of Brian Brown, notable figure in the underbelly of the far north of NZ. He currently plays for the in Super Rugby and in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup.

Early career

Born and raised in the small town of Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand, Henwood initially turned out for the Bay's youth sides alongside future All Black, Sam Cane. He attended Opotiki College for four years, then moved to Auckland for his final year of high school and attended King's College where he captained their first XV.

Senior career

Henwood debuted for Auckland during the 2011 ITM Cup season, however over the next few years he suffered multiple shoulder injuries which required reconstruction ending two of his seasons prematurely. He made his return to the National Provincial Competition in 2014, playing for the Counties Manukau Steelers. During the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 off-seasons, he played in Portugal for Clube de Tecnico who were coached by his former Counties Manukau teammate, Kane Hancy.

His second stint in Portugal was cut short when a season-ending injury to Mitchell Karpik left a spot open on the Super Rugby roster, so he headed to Hamilton and made his super rugby debut in a match against the . Overall he managed 2 appearances during the season. His sister, Kate Henwood, plays for the Black Ferns.