Joseph Thomas Wheeler (born 20 October 1987) is a New Zealand television presenter and former rugby union player. He played as a lock or flanker for Suntory Sungoliath in the *anese Top League. Of Ngāi Tahu descent, Wheeler was selected in the New Zealand Māori All Blacks and represented them on the November 2013 tour of North America.

Contents

• 1 Rugby career
• 2 Television career
• 3 Personal life
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Rugby career

A product of the Marlborough Boys' College 1st XV, Wheeler made his Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders against the Sharks in 2010. He joined the Highlanders for the 2013 Super Rugby season on a two-year deal.

Television career

After retiring from playing rugby, Wheeler was hired by Sky Sport to commentate rugby.

In April 2021, Wheeler apologised after mimicking an Asian accent in an offensive way when talking about former teammate Kazuki Himeno during a post-match interview with another Highlanders player.

Personal life

Wheeler comes from a successful sporting family: his brother Ben Wheeler is a cricketer who plays for Central Districts; and his grandfather Ray Dowker was a multi-talented athlete who represented Canterbury in cricket, football and many other codes.

In December 2015, Wheeler became engaged to his girlfriend of six years Courtney MacKay, one of the contestants from season 5 of The Block NZ. They married in 2017, and had a daughter in 2019.

References

External links

• Joe's website
• Tasman profile
• Highlanders profile
• itsrugby.co.uk profile
• Higlanders YouTube profile
• Wheeler joins Highlanders
• Highlanders in Tasman Coup
• Maori All Blacks Squad Named
• Crusaders profile