Captain America The former international who is far from rugby obsessed
Tony Lamborn, one of New Zealand rugby’s true characters who ended up captaining the United States, has called time on his playing days. Logan Savory reflects with him on a rugby career comprising plenty of highs and the odd low, including a stint on the couch eating chips.
Some may view Tony Lamborn’s confession a little strange as he goes about filing his rugby career away to now focus solely on family and business.
Lamborn has put a full stop on a nearly decade-long professional career and close to two decades playing rugby altogether. As the 31-year-old reflects, he admits rugby has never actually fully captured his attention – as a follower of the game, at least.
It took him until he was 13 before he started playing. Before that, he was into athletics where he showed a bit of speed.
The decision to have a go at rugby while living in Ashburton was simply a chance to hang out with his best friends at school, Ben Bailey and George Redmond.
Lamborn was chucked on the wing and away he went. But he wasn’t your typical New Zealand rugby kid who couldn’t get enough of the sport.
‘‘I remember being in a Mid Canterbury team – we were training, and Richie McCaw turned up to help us. I had no idea who the guy was.
‘‘Honestly, I had no idea. I didn’t know he was the All Blacks captain. I remember the Crusaders turned up to Ashburton College one day and I sort of knew who they were by that stage.
‘‘Everyone was getting autographs, and to be honest I didn’t really care.’’
He concedes that lack of interest, as a follower at least, has remained throughout much of his career. ‘‘I’ve never been a guy that overwatches rugby,’’ he says.
‘‘I couldn’t really care less about watching the All Blacks.
‘‘Although now [Southland’s] Ethan de Groot is in the All Blacks, I try and watch most games that he is playing, only for that reason. I’ve always loved playing the game, although I did get to the point I didn’t like training that much.’’
Despite all of that, Lamborn quickly realised as a youngster that he wasn’t too bad at rugby. It was his sporting home as a competitor, at least.
In 2008, he moved to Hawke’s Bay and as a 16-year-old was playing loose forward for the Havelock North under-21 team. By 18 he was playing premier rugby for the club and by 21 he was playing for Hawke’s Bay.
It was the birth of a professional rugby career that saw him play Super Rugby for both the Hurricanes and the Blues and captain the United States at the international level.
Lamborn has connections to the United States through his father and at the time of his US call-up he was playing for the Hurricanes, where John Plumtree was an assistant coach.
Plumtree’s brother-in-law, John Mitchell, was coaching the US team, which prompted the conversation to start.
‘‘I really wanted to make a massive difference for the Stags and put my best foot forward . . . But I don’t think I was the best example off the field.’’
Lamborn didn’t see the All Blacks as a realistic prospect. He agreed to represent his father’s country and ended up playing 23 tests in total.
It included attending the 2019 Rugby World Cup, while another highlight was playing against the Ma¯ ori All Blacks in Chicago.
In 2018, Lamborn’s career was to be shifted to the United Kingdom as he had a deal sorted with the Newcastle Falcons in England. However, he remained in New Zealand after his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
With the NPC competition just about to start, and his home province of Hawke’s Bay already sorted with contracts, Lamborn was signed by the Southland Stags. It’s in Southland where his provincial rugby-playing days eventually finished.
By 2020 Auckland’s Blues had snapped him up at Super Rugby level, and he worked his way to a starting role in the No 7 jersey ahead of the likes of Blake Gibson and Dalton Papalii.
At that time, Lamborn was in negotiations with the Blues for a
two-year contract extension. It was before the emergence of Covid-19. The competition stopped, and players were sent home.
‘‘In my head, I couldn’t see us getting back together. That was my season over,’’ he says.
‘‘We were supposed to be training, and I was just sitting, ticking boxes saying I was running. But I was sitting on the couch eating chips [and] playing video games.
‘‘Then, hello – we come back together and I’m 5kg heavier and unfit. I just remember having a pretty hard conversation with Leon McDonald and Tom Coventry, and they were pretty disappointed in me.’’
He says it took him only a couple of weeks to lose the 5kg he had put on, get back in playing shape, and return to the starting team. But that two-year contracted extension never happened: The Blues had already moved on and signed Dillon Hunt instead.
In hindsight, Lamborn says he probably came across as a little too relaxed during his time as a Super Rugby player. ‘‘I always played hard, but I’m not sure about my attitude,’’ he says.
‘‘Just talking with the coaches, I don’t think I showed that I wanted it. It was more that I was stoked to be there.’’
The Blues called him as cover the following season but his time as a Super Rugby player was pretty much done.
He instead started a building business in Hawke’s Bay called Limitless Construction. During the 2020 and 2021 provincial seasons he would travel south to play for the Southland Stags.
He became attached to the Stags. Coach Dale MacLeod appointed him as captain, and Lamborn played a lead role in putting some pride back in the Stags’ jersey – more so through the resolute approach in defence than anything else.
He become a bit of a fan favorite in Southland and a follow-me type of leader on the field with a hardworking, no-nonsense reputation.
While he had strong points as a leader, Lamborn admits there were also some not-so-strong points. ‘‘I really wanted to make a massive difference for the Stags and put my best foot forward. I always wanted to set a good example on the field,’’ he says.
‘‘But I don’t think I was the best example off the field. I loved a good beer, and I got carried away in that regard.
‘‘In terms of my on-field performance and what I showed at training, that is where I earned my respect – that is for sure.’’
Lamborn had his sights on returning for another season in maroon this year. At the end of the 2021 season he stated that as long as the Southland Stags wanted him back, he would return.
The problem is, it turned out he wasn’t wanted. Lamborn wasn’t offered a contract for 2022.
‘‘I think it came down to the [Rugby Southland] board, with that whole drink-driving and that all coming out.
‘‘It was a bad look on me and also the union, what they represented and what I wanted as far as young kids looking up to you. It was a horrible mistake.
‘‘I had no-one else to blame but myself, and at the end of the day they made that decision [not to resign me].’’
It left Lamborn pondering what to do rugby-wise. He says he didn’t really want to play for anyone else but Southland.
He was on 49 caps with Hawke’s Bay, and if he was to join another team it would have been his home province. But Hawke’s Bay had some good young players coming through and Lamborn made up his mind that retirement was probably the best option.
His rugby swansong was playing club rugby for Havelock North in 2022 where he brought up his 100th game for the club before signing off as a rugby player.
Most people close to Lamborn already knew his rugby playing days were done, but after being regularly asked recently if he was playing next season, and even fielding interest from overseas teams, he decided to make it public this week.
He intends to help out with some defence and set-piece work with the Havelock North premier team this year. His elder son, Jack, is also playing Rippa rugby.
He’s got a soft spot for the Stags so still tunes into their games on television, as well as Bay of Plenty fixtures to watch his good mate Manaaki Selby-Rickit in action.
But that’s probably the extent of it when it comes to rugby now.
Much of his time these days is soaked up through his business. He employs eight builders and is building a new house for himself, his wife, Abby, and their two boys, Jack and Quinn. They plan to be living in their new home before Christmas.
For Lamborn, rugby will always be about the people he has met, rather than the game itself. He admits he’s travelled to and played in countries he never would have otherwise visited, Romania and Georgia included.
For a guy who is far from a rugby tragic, he acknowledges the sport has given him a fair bit over the past couple of decades.
‘‘I’ve made some good friends along the way. And when I say that, I mean good friends – friends that I keep in touch with.
‘‘We have a wee chat most weeks. It’s hard to come across people like that who are loyal and always keep in touch. Life goes on and you get a bit busy, so I try my best to keep in touch.’’