Mitchell Karpik

Mitchell "Mitch" Karpik (born 2 June 1995) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player who played as a flanker for Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Chiefs in the international Super Rugby competition.^[1][2][3][4] Karpik became a lawyer after injury cut his rugby career short.^{[citation needed]}

Mitchell Karpik

Full name	Mitchell Ryan Karpik
Date of birth	(1995-06-02) 2 June 1995 (age 30)
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	101 kg (223 lb; 15 st 13 lb)
School	King's College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker Current team Chiefs, Bay of Plenty Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2015 Auckland 11 (15) 2017–2020 Chiefs 25 (15) 2017–2020 Bay of Plenty 27 (30) Correct as of 20 June 2020 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2015 New Zealand U20 4 (20) 2018–2019 Māori All Blacks 5 (20) Correct as of 20 June 2020

Early career

Born and raised in Auckland, Karpik attended King's College in Otahuhu from 2009-2013, and was captain of the 1st XV.^[4] Karpik also grew up playing cricket for the Parnell Pirates and had a reputation as a formidable all rounder. Furthermore, during High School Karpik; along with future agent Scott Bevin, formed the all conquering Greenbank Javelin academy, garnering success for many years.^[5] After graduating from high school, he played his club rugby in the Auckland region and played for the Blues under-20 and developmental teams.^[6]

Senior career

He received his first taste of provincial rugby with Auckland during the 2015 ITM Cup, where he played a starring role in their run to the Premiership final. He played 11 of Auckland's 12 games during the campaign and scored 3 tries in what was to be his only season with them.^[1]

At the conclusion of the 2015 season, it was announced that Karpik would be joining the Bay of Plenty Steamers for 2016.^[6] Unfortunately for both parties, a knee injury sustained at the beginning of the year ruled him of the entire campaign which saw the Steamers eliminated at the semi-final stage after finishing 4th on the Championship log.^[7]

Super Rugby

His debut season at provincial level with Auckland was enough to convince the Hamilton-based Chiefs Super Rugby franchise to hand him a contract for the 2016 Super Rugby season.^[8] A knee injury picked up in pre-season match against the Waratahs saw him miss the entire campaign. Despite this, he was retained in the squad for 2017.^[3][7]

International

Karpik represented both New Zealand Schools and New Zealands Schools Barbarians while at King's College and was also a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which won the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Italy.^[9][10][11]

Career Honours

New Zealand Under-20

• World Rugby Under 20 Championship - 2015

Super Rugby Statistics

As of 11 December 2016^[1]

Season	Team	Games	Starts	Sub	Mins	Tries	Cons	Pens	Drops	Points	Yel	Red
2016	Chiefs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0