Kees Junior Meeuws (; born 26 July 1974) is a New Zealand former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, 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 The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

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

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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. He was also an alumnus of

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

as part of University of Auckland. In 2020, he is in the alumni ''Match Fit'' squad to face

New Zealand Barbarians The New Zealand Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", are an invitational rugby union team. They have been a part of New Zealand rugby since the team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush and Hubert McLean, who captained their fi ...

. He revealed that he lost his mother at age 10, and his father at 20.He returned in season 2 in 2021/22 as the most powerful, strongest and most explosive player in the team.

References

External links

*
Kees Meeuws
(official website)
Scarlets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeuws, Kees 1974 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union props New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand people of Dutch descent Blues (Super Rugby) players Highlanders (rugby union) players Scarlets players New Zealand Māori sportspeople People educated at Rutherford College, Auckland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Wales Rugby union players from Auckland