Teenagers charged over burglary of Leon MacDonald's home

Former All Black Leon MacDonald. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Two teenagers will appear in court today charged over the burglary of the Blenheim home of former All Blacks star Leon MacDonald.

The youths, aged 16 and 17, were in an allegedly stolen car when they were stopped by police.

They will appear in Blenheim District Court this morning over the burglary and other unrelated matters.

MacDonald was returning from celebrating his birthday on Sunday night when he confronted two teens who had just broken into his home and stolen a bag of rugby jerseys, kept as mementoes of his stellar international playing career.

The former Crusaders star quizzed the young burglars before they threatened him and made off around 1am before cops arrived.

It wasn't until yesterday morning that 37-year-old MacDonald discovered that up to 15 international rugby jerseys, including treasured All Blacks tops and ones he'd swapped with South African, England, Australian, French and Italian opposition players, were gone.

"I felt a bit sick when it actually sunk in what was missing. It was gutting... you could never replace them," the 56-test All Black said yesterday.

"To actually have jerseys you've swapped with players, there's a story behind every one."

The jerseys were folded into a bag kept in a garage attached to his Blenheim home.