Kees Meeuws

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Kees Meeuws
Birth nameKees Junior Meeuws
Date of birth (1974-07-26) 26 July 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth Auckland, New Zealand
Height184 cm (6 ft 1⁄2 in) [1]
Weight121 kg (19.1 st; 267 lb) [1]
SchoolKelston Boys High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2004-2006 Castres 34 (45)
2006-2007 Agen 12 (0)
2007-2008 Castres 18 (5)
2008-2009 Scarlets 12 (5)
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1996 Auckland 3 ()
1997–2001 Otago 40 ()
2002–2004 Auckland 16 ()
2009–2011 Otago 31 (10)
Super Rugby
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1997–2001 Highlanders 47 ()
2002–2004 Blues 33 ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1998–2004 New Zealand 42 (50)

Kees Junior Meeuws ( /ˈkeɪsˈmjuːz/ ; born 26 July 1974) is a New Zealand former rugby union prop and former assistant coach of the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition, and also a real estate agent by trade and a painter by education. Meeuws played 42 tests for the All Blacks between 1998 and 2004, scoring 10 test tries. He played provincial rugby for Otago and Auckland, and played for the Blues in the Super 12. In 2004, Meeuws left New Zealand to take up a contract with French club Castres Olympique, and in 2006 he left Castres for Agen after a falling-out with Castres coach Laurent Seigne. Following Agen's relegation after the 2006–07 season, Meeuws left Agen and returned to Castres, signing a two-year contract with the club. In May 2008, it was announced that Meeuws would be joining the Scarlets on a two-year deal. However, shortly into his Scarlets career, he suffered a long-term injury. In July 2009, having made just 12 appearances and scored 1 try, his contract with the Scarlets was cancelled by mutual consent. He returned to Otago in 2010 to play in the ITM Cup.

Meeuws was born in Auckland of Dutch and Māori parentage. He has written an autobiographical book about his experiences in France, Le Rugbyman (co-written with Heather Kidd), published in 2005.

Meeuws has a long-standing interest in art, and has exhibited his own work (created in collaboration with David Burke) in 2011 and 2015. [2] He was also an alumnus of Elam School of Fine Arts as part of University of Auckland.

In 2020, he is in the alumni Match Fit squad to face New Zealand Barbarians. He revealed that he lost his mother at age 10, and his father at 20. [3] He returned in season 2 in 2021/22 as the most powerful, strongest and most explosive player in the team. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 "The way sport is shaping, too tall ain't enough". smh.com.au. Fairfax Media. 26 July 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Kees Meeuws and David Burke," Gallery De Novo. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "Match Fit". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Match Fit Season 2 Ep 2 | DOCUMENTARY/FACTUAL | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
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