Being the son of a past All Black captain John had rugby in his veins from a young age.

JL played 123 games for Otago (1991 - 1998) and 32 for the Highlanders (1996 - 1998) in the Super 12. He captained Otago to the National Provincial Championship title in his final year in 1998.

John made his international debut, alongside brother Martin, for Scotland via a paternal grandfather against South Africa in 1998 – and scored his first international try after 12 seconds.He continued playing for Scotland for 4 years raking up 23 Caps during which time he played club rugby for Fukuoka Sanix Bombs, Newcastle Falcons and the  Northhampton Saints.

He remains involved in rugby coaching a team for the University of Otago club and is the managing director of 'Leslie Rugby'. John joined the NZ Rugby Foundation in 2010 with a commercial and B2B  focus.