Ben John Franks

Ben Franks (born 27 March 1984 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a rugby union player for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition and All Blacks. He plays as a prop.

Franks made his provincial debut for Canterbury against Otago in 2005. He has since played for both Canterbury and the Tasman Makos in the Air New Zealand Cup, securing 42 caps (16 for Canterbury, 26 for Tasman).

He plays for the Crusaders in the elite Super 15 competition, making his debut against the Chiefs in 2006. He currently has 35 appearances (at the end of the 2009 season).

Ben is the older brother of Owen also an All Black prop, and both represent the Linwood Rugby club in Christchurch. Both brothers were selected for the 2010 All Blacks squad to face Ireland and Wales in the home series thus being the first brothers to represent New Zealand since Robin and Zinzan Brooke.

On 26 October 2008, Franks was selected for the All Blacks end of year tour squad to travel to Hong Kong, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He became Aranui High School's first ever All Black when he played against Munster at Thomond Park.

He started the first match of the Pacific Nations Cup against Samoa in June 2009 with a close victory, winning 17-16. He then played the final match of the tournament against Tonga, but did not score a point even though New Zealand won 47-25.

Franks played his first match of 2010 in a test match at Yarrow Stadium against Ireland. The All Black's won by a triumphant 66-28 and Franks got his first ever try for the All Blacks. He also played a week later in the All Black's defeat of Wales in Dunedin.

His test performance won him a spot in the All Black's line up to face South Africa in the first match of the 2010 Tri-Nations tournament. He played again against South Africa a week later and twice against Australia in the following weeks. He played the penultimate match against South Africa but was left out of the team for the final match against Australia and his place taken by his brother Owen.

He started off 2011 with a friendly against Fiji followed by wins over South Africa and Australia in the 2011 Tri-Nations tournament. He played in the penultimate loss to South Afirca and was subsequently replaced by brother Owen once again.

Franks came on as a sub during the opening match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franks