Aled de Malmanche

Aled de Malmanche’s All Blacks selection was due to his versatility and ability to play in all three positions of the front row. His prowess as both a hooker and a prop and his imposing physique at 1.85m and 113kg made him a powerful and effective scrummager.

As his exotic name suggested, Aled de Malmanche was of French extraction, a descendant of those who settled in Akaroa on Canterbury’s Bank Peninsula in the mid 19th century. He was, indeed, a distant relative of another descendant of those settlers, Jules Le Lievre, the Canterbury prop who was an All Black in 1962-63.

de Malmanche also had Maori ancestry and his first national selection came with the New Zealand Maori side, for which in 2007 (on a short European tour) and 2008 (in the Pacific Nations tournament) he played eight matches.

Up until the 2009 season, despite having been in first class rugby since 2005, de Malmanche had actually only started six matches as a hooker. The move to specialise as a hooker was something of a master-stroke as it was from there he broke into the national side.

As an All Black, de Malmanche appeared in five All Blacks tests in 2009-10. For most of his stint with the All Blacks he was competing with highly rated players such as Keven Mealamu, Andrew Hore, and Corey Flynn, and his promotion to the All Blacks usually depended on their availability.

In his first few seasons with Waikato and the Chiefs he was the hooking understudy to another All Black, Tom Willis, as well as covering prop. And in his latter seasons with the Chiefs he was in a job sharing role with yet another All Black, Hika Elliot.

After the 2011 season de Malmanche moved off-shore, having played for Waikato 57 times, the Chiefs 62 times and a total of 133 games in all first class rugby.