Richard Kahui (born 9 June 1985) is a former New Zealand

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 ...

player. He played for

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

Super Rugby AU Super Rugby AU, formerly named the Harvey Norman Super Rugby AU for sponsorship purposes, was a rugby union competition organised by Rugby Australia. The competition was created to supplant the 2020 Super Rugby season, which had been suspended ...

. He previously played for the and in

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 ...

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

in the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship (NP ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

internationally. He played at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

Career

Domestic

Kahui debuted for

in the 2004 NPC. In 2006, he was the top try scorer in the

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 ...

, and was named the 'Air New Zealand Cup Player of the Year'. Kahui made his

debut in 2006 with the Highlanders. In 2007 he signed with the where he remained for the duration of his playing career in New Zealand. In 2012, he was a part of the championship-winning Chiefs squad. In 2013 it was announced that he signed with Toshiba Brave Lupus on a two-year deal, beginning with the 2013–14

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

season.

International

In 2008 Kahui was also named as a member of the New Zealand All Blacks squad for the inbound tours to New Zealand. He made his All Blacks debut on 21 June 2008, starting at outside centre (13), and scored a try in New Zealand's 44–12 victory over England. He has shown his versatility by playing on the wing (14) in the All Blacks 2009 Bledisloe Cup victory over Australia. A six-month shoulder injury he incurred at the end of his 2009 Super 14 season with the Chiefs, prevented him from playing in the All Black side later in the year. In 2010, Kahui returned to the All Blacks and was dynamic in the second test against Wales in Dunedin, where he scored a try from playing on the wing. The following week against South Africa, he was named as a reserve and came onto Eden Park in the second half also on the wing again. At the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

he scored two tries in the tournament's opening game against Tonga, and another two against Japan. He was an integral part of New Zealand's World Cup winning side, starting several games, including every knockout match at left wing.

Japan

Kahui lived in Fuchu, Japan with

team Toshiba Brave Lupus under Australian coach Joe Barakat, with other New Zealand players

Steven Bates Steven Paul Bates (born 16 January 1980 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, whose usual position is at Number 8. He played for Waikato at provincial level and the Chiefs in the Super 14. Bates made the traditio ...

and David Hill.

Western Force

On 14 July 2020, it was announced Kahui had signed for the Western Force who are competing in the Super Rugby AU competition.

Retirement

Kahui retired from rugby at the end of the

2022 Super Rugby Pacific season The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Pacific in Australia and DHL Super Rugby Pacific in New Zealand) is the 27th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams f ...

to take up AFL playing in the over 35s Masters competition for the Broadbeach Cats Old Boys. Richard signed a lucrative 2 schooners per game contract in 2025. The contract also came with a tray of meat pies as a signing bonus.

References

External links

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Statistics from Fox Sports
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Richard Kahui Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahui, Richard 1985 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Chiefs (Super Rugby) players Highlanders (rugby union) players Waikato rugby union players Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo players Rugby union centres New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union players from Tokoroa Ngāti Maniapoto people New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union wings Māori All Blacks players Western Force players People educated at Forest View High School, Tokoroa 2011 Rugby World Cup players