Christian Cullen is a retired New Zealand rugby union player, he played the majority of his career at fullback but also occasionally played at wing and centre. Cullen scored an incredible 46 tries in just 58 tests which means he’s the 9th-highest try scorer in international rugby.
Cullen’s professional career started in 1994 at Horowhenua-Kapiti, after performing extremely well in 8 games he moved to Manawatu. He played here for 15 games before moving to New Zealand giants the Hurricanes. Cullen contested in the first-ever Super 12 game between the Hurricanes and the Blues. His international debut came against Samoa in 1996, it was certainly a debut to remember as Cullen scored a hat-trick. In his second Test match against Scotland, Cullen scored 4 tries, taking his total to 7 tries in his first 2 games.
Tries continued to be scored at a rapid rate by Cullen, including 11 tries in 10 games for the Hurricanes in 1997 and 12 tries in 12 Test matches for the All Blacks in the same year. Although hampered with continuous injuries for a few years, Cullen had an incredible 2003 season. He scored 8 tries in 12 games for the Hurricanes, taking his Super Rugby career tries tally to 56, a record at the time.
Cullen made a successful move to Irish giants Munster in 2003, he continued to have injury problems and ended up playing 44 games between 2003-07. After a Celtic League win, Cullen announced his retirement from rugby. He ended up with 266 points for New Zealand in 60 appearances, a fantastic try-scoring record and a player that will go down in rugby union history.
Since retiring, Cullen has taken up a career as an after dinner rugby speaker. His strong, witty personality makes him the perfect rugby speaker for your upcoming corporate event or function. Cullen often discusses his remarkable rugby career, as well as delving into topics such as drive and determination, sporting success and coping with setbacks.
