Full name | Kelvin Jon Middleton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 18 May 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kelvin Jon Middleton (born 18 May 1974) is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player. [1]
Hailing from Queenstown, Middleton was an Otago provincial captain, capped 58 times for the Highlanders between 1998 and 2003. He played on the Highlanders team that contested the 1999 Super 12 final, which they lost to the Crusaders. [2]
Middleton toured Europe with New Zealand "A" in 2000. [3]
Before retiring, Middleton had a stint in Japanese professional rugby, at Fukuoka-based club Coca-Cola West Japan. [4]
Middleton married the daughter of ex-Highlanders coach Gordon Hunter. [5]
The Highlanders is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competition, and includes the Otago, North Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that founded the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s.
Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league and motocross. In 1922, Carisbrook hosted the first international football match between Australia and New Zealand. The hosts won 3-1.
Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982.
Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua is a retired Samoan rugby player who last played for the Kubota Spears of the Japanese Top League. Prior to his move to Japan in 2011, he also had long stints with the Highlanders in Super Rugby and London Irish in the Aviva Premiership. He is currently the head coach of Manu Samoa having been appointed in 2020.
Andrew Keith Hore is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played for the All Blacks between 2002 and 2013. His position was hooker. He notably played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, but also represented the Highlanders and the Crusaders. When available, he played for Taranaki in the ITM Cup, now known as the Mitre 10 Cup. Hore retired from international rugby after playing Ireland during the 2013 All Black Northern Hemisphere tour, with a total of 83 test caps to his name. In 2008 Hore received the Kelvin Tremain Trophy for Rugby player of the year. In 2011, Andrew Hore captained the All Blacks against Canada.
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Alando Soakai is a former professional rugby union player from New Zealand. He is currently the head coach of the Wellington Lions in the National Provincial Championship. He is best known for his time with the Highlanders in Super Rugby and Otago in the ITM Cup, and as captain of Otago in their 2009 and 2010 campaigns. He currently serves on the coaching staff of the Kubota Spears in the Japan Rugby League One, the club where he finished his playing career.
Adam Thomson is a New Zealand rugby union player. He represented the New Zealand All Blacks between 2008 and 2012, playing a total of 29 tests including two during the victorious 2011 Rugby World Cup campaign. He played for the Melbourne Rebels in 2016, having also played Super Rugby with the Queensland Reds (2015) and Highlanders (2006-2012). He has also represented the Canon Eagles in Japan's Top League and New Zealand province Otago.
James Whitinui Joseph is a New Zealand-born Japanese former rugby union player and current rugby union coach. A flanker, Joseph represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, from 1992 to 1995, before representing Japan in 1999. Joseph, now head coach of the Japanese national side, has coached since his retirement, coming through the ranks in New Zealand before his first national stint.
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Gordon Rowland Robert Hunter was a New Zealand rugby union player, coach and selector.
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Otago are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin, New Zealand. The union was originally established in 1881, with the National Provincial Championship established in 1976. They now play in the reformed National Provincial Championship competition. They play their home games at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin in the Otago region. The team is affiliated with the Highlanders Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are navy blue and gold.
Brendon Paul Timmins is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player.
Sekonaia Pole is a New Zealand professional rugby union player.