Crusaders call up former sevens star Toby Arnold for Super Rugby duty

Former Bay of Plenty rep Toby Arnold, pictured at FMG Stadium Waikato in 2010, has been called into the Crusaders DHL Super Rugby Pacific squad on a short-term contract. Photo / File

Former New Zealand Sevens star Toby Arnold could make his Super Rugby debut at age 36 after being called into the Crusaders DHL Super Rugby Pacific squad as an injury replacement.

“Great to have Toby Arnold with us on a short-term contract,” the Crusaders posted on social media.

“The Kiwi fullback and winger was a legend for Lyon, playing more than 220 games in the past 10 years. Before France, he was a regular starter with the All Blacks Sevens team,” the Crusaders spokesperson said.

He arrived at Crusaders HQ last week and was training with the team in place of Leigh Halfpenny, who was expected to return from injury later in the season.

Arnold would fit in well with several other veterans in the Crusaders DHL Super Rugby Pacific squad. Former England halfback Willi Heinz is 37, hooker Quentin MacDonald is 35 as is Joe Moody and former All Black Ryan Crotty, while former Welsh outside back Johnny McNicholl is 33.

Te Kūiti-born Toby Arnold told the Waikato Herald in November 2023, that he was “99 per cent sure” he’d retired after spending more than a decade with France-based Top 14 side Lyon Olympique Universitaire Rugby’s (LOU).

Arnold is LOU’s all-time top try-scorer of the professional era and played 232 times for the club.

A Bay of Plenty Steamers rep at the time, Arnold turned down a relieving role with the Chiefs in the 2012 Super 15 competition in favour of his third full season on the IRB world sevens circuit.

“There was never much communication coming my way from any of the Super 15 teams during or after ITM Cup so I guessed by that that I wasn’t really being looked at,” Arnold told the Rotorua Daily Post in November 2011.

“The Chiefs asked me to be involved in their wider training group but I turned it down — I made it pretty clear I’d rather play sevens and travel the world than hold a tackle bag in Hamilton all summer.”

Twelve years on, the veteran may finally have a Super Rugby chance during his swansong.

Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.

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