Kees Meeuws

When he left New Zealand after the 2004 NPC season to play for the Castres club in the south of France Kees Meeuws, after some years as a squad member, seemed to have established himself as a first choice in the All Black front row. But unease about the possible impact of changes of coaches on selections and therefore players incomes led him to move off-shore.

Of Dutch and Maori descent Meeuws was educated at Kelston Boys High where he made the 1st XV in his 4th form year. He went on to represent New Zealand Under 17 in 1991, under 19 in 1993 and New Zealand Colts 1994-95. He also made three appearance for Auckland in the 1994-95 seasons but with All Black props Craig Dowd and Olo Brown plus well performed backups Kevin Nepia and John Akurangi ahead of him opportunities were limited.

A move to Otago saw him appearing alongside New Zealand Under 19 team mates Carl Hoeft and Anton Oliver in a formidable 1997 Highlanders and Otago front row.

After a strong 1998 Super 12 he was called into the All Blacks for the final Tri-Nations test and good performances for Otago in the NPC strengthened his claim for the following season.

During 1999 Meeuws played the Super 12 in a strong Highlanders team that lost a keenly contested final against the Crusaders. He started in all the Tri Nations tests that season but at the World Cup Craig Dowd was preferred, with Meeuws more often used as a substitute.

He retained his All Black position in the winter of 2000 but did not make the end of season tour to France and Italy. Affected by injury he was not involved in the 2001 Tri-Nations series but returned to play the NPC, then the midweek matches and the Argentina test on the All Blacks end of season tour.

Kees Meeuws returned to Auckland for the 2002 season, appearing in every Super 12 match for the Blues and each NPC match for Auckland. At test level he played only against Italy and Fiji during the winter but appeared in all three end of season tests on the Northern Hemisphere tour. He scored his first test try against Italy and followed with two against Fiji and one each against France and Wales. He scored a further four test tries in 2003, when seven of his eleven appearances were as a substitute, the Canterbury props Dave Hewett and Greg Sommerville generally being preferred. His 9th try against Tonga at the World Cup made him the world’s leading try scoring prop and he pushed the record to 10 against the Pacific Islands in 2004.

This was his last season in the All Blacks and he started in six of the seven home and Tri-Nations test matches.

When he left New Zealand at the end of the 2004 season Meeuws had 45 All Black appearances (42 tests), 80 Super 12 matches, 40 matches for Otago and 19 for Auckland to his credit. The totals would have been greater but for a number of leg injuries.

As a player he won the Super 12 with the Blues in 2003, the NPC with Otago 1998 and Auckland in both 2002 and 2003.

Standing 1.83 metres and weighing around 119 kg Meeuws had the ideal build for a prop but also had the mobility of a successful secondary school athlete. With such diverse interests as pig hunting and art (he was a student at the Elam School of Fine Arts intending to major in sculpture) he was a distinctive and valued team member, often highlighted on television for his strong ending to the All Black haka.