Aaron Joseph Douglas Mauger (last name pronounced "Major"; born 29 November 1980) is a New Zealand professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

Born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Mauger played first five-eighth and second five-eighth for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

(

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

), the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

(

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

) and the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. He joined the

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

at the end of the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with the English side. Mauger captained the New Zealand under-21 team to success in the international under-21 tournaments in 2000 and 2001. He made his All Blacks debut in 2001. He is the younger brother of Nathan Mauger and his uncles are former All Blacks Graeme Bachop and

Stephen Bachop Stephen John Bachop (born 2 April 1966) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and current coach. He is the older brother of fellow former All Black, Graeme Bachop. Rugby career Following the 1985 season, Bachop was selected as one of th ...

. His great-uncle,

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018; last name pronounced "Major") was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Champ ...

, was a six-time Speedway World Champion. In March 2010, Mauger announced his retirement due to a back injury. He had attended clinics in the United Kingdom and Germany in his bid to overcome the injury but had been unable to complete training sessions without breaking down.

Coaching

In June 2010, Mauger returned with his family to live in his native New Zealand, where he hoped to remain involved with rugby union in a coaching role. Following a period of coaching with the Crusaders, it was announced that Mauger had signed a three-year deal (starting in the 2015–16 season) with Leicester Tigers for the vacant head coach role. The role was previously held by Matt O'Connor who left in 2013 to be head coach at Leinster.

Highlanders

On 1 August 2017 Mauger was named head coach of the Highlanders, taking over from previous head coach Tony Brown. For the 2018 Super Rugby season the Highlanders won 10 of 16 games, with points for 437 to 445 against, to be placed 6th. They lost to the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

23–30 in their quarter-final match at Sydney. His assistant coaches were

Mark Hammett Mark Garry 'Hammer' Hammett (born 13 July 1972) is a New Zealand rugby union coach (sport), coach and former player. Having represented Canterbury Rugby Football Union, Canterbury provincially 76 times, and the Crusaders (rugby union), Crusaders ...

and Glenn Delaney. In the 2019 season the Highlanders under Mauger won 6 and drew 2 matches (Chiefs, Bulls) and were awarded a 0–0 draw for their scheduled match against the Crusaders which was cancelled due to the Christchurch Mosque shootings. This placed them 8th. The points scored were 441 and 392 against. They lost their quarter-final to the eventual champions, the Crusaders, by 14–38 at Christchurch. Clarke Dermody had joined Hammett and Delaney as an Assistant Coach. In a 2020 season disrupted by COVID-19, the Highlanders won 1 (the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

at Canberra) of their 5 Super Rugby games and they were awarded a 0–0 draw for their cancelled match against the Jaguares. They had a points for and against deficit of 91 to 163, prior to cessation of that competition. During

Super Rugby Aotearoa Super Rugby Aotearoa named the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes was a professional men's rugby union national club competition in New Zealand. Originally created to supplement the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was suspended due ...

the Highlanders were 4th after winning 3 from 8 and a points deficit of 197 points for to 227 against. Riki Flutey had joined as assistant coach. Mauger's head coach position was not renewed and he was replaced by Tony Brown.

References

External links

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Tigers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauger, Aaron 1980 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand people of French Polynesian descent New Zealand international rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Crusaders (rugby union) players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Living people Leicester Tigers coaches Bachop–Mauger family 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union coaches