1996 Hurricane Gordon Simpson later carved out a successful playing career in Glasgow in Scotland, and making the Scottish test side. He toured New Zealand with Scotland in 2000 and scored a try against the All Blacks at Carisbrook, eventually playing 95 games for Glasgow and 22 Tests for Scotland.

Simpson was known as the “Badger” because of his ball winning skills on the ground.

Previously Simpson played for North Harbour between 1989-1993 and for Wellington between 1994-1996. In 1995 he was the Wellington Player of the Year, but was overlooked in favour of Josh Kronfeld for the All Blacks’ openside flanker role for that year’s end of year tour to Italy and France. Other representative sides in New Zealand included the New Zealand Colts in 1992 and New Zealand Secondary Schools in 1989.