Finlay Christie: The Scot set to play at the Rugby World Cup final

With his shock of ginger hair there is no disguising his roots and on Saturday evening in Paris Finlay Christie looks set to become the first Scottish-born player to play in a men’s Rugby World Cup final.

Finlay Christie of New Zealand passes the ball during the Rugby World Cup semi-final win over Argentina at the Stade de France. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The scrum-half has been named on the bench by New Zealand for the match against South Africa at the Stade de France as both teams seek an unprecedented fourth triumph. It’s no overnight success story, with Christie, 29, grafting his way through the ranks for the right to understudy Aaron Smith at this tournament.

Born in the Borders General Hospital near Melrose in 1995, Christie grew up in Peebles before moving to Aberdeen. His family emigrated to New Zealand when he was seven and he grew up in the city of Pukekohe in the Auckland area.

After university in Canterbury, he impressed in provincial rugby with Tasman and was offered a contract by Chiefs in 2017. He played for the Hurricanes in 2018-19 and then joined the Blues in 2020. A year later he enjoyed an outstanding season as helped the Blues win the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition. He was rewarded with international recognition and made his All Blacks debut against Tonga in Auckland, coming off the bench in a 102-0 win.

He now has 20 New Zealand caps and has played three times at this World Cup, coming off the bench in the opening defeat by France, the win over Uruguay and the semi-final triumph against Argentina.

While Christie has served the All Blacks with distinction, his family is Scottish through and through, with mother Liz coming from just outside Hawick and father Chris from Inverness. Christie’s older brother Gregor, also a scrum-half, has played for Currie Chieftains in the Scottish Premiership.

Speaking last year before playing for New Zealand against Scotland at Murrayfield, Christie revealed that Scottish Rugby had made a tentative approach for him before he had been capped. “[It was] a wee one,” he said. “But back then it was sort of through Covid and things didn’t really work out, so I guess I’m happy where I stayed and it’s worked out quite well so far.”