Hugh McMeniman (born 1 November 1983 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

) is an Australian retired professional

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 its m ...

footballer. He represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 22 tests and played for the Queensland Reds and

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

as well as for Kubota Spears and

Honda Heat Mie Honda Heat is a Japanese rugby union team based in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The owner of the club is Honda Motor. (Suzuka is known for the Suzuka Circuit and the presence of car companies.) They play in the Japan Rugby League One, ...

in Japan. His favoured position was blindside flanker but he also played as a lock.

Domestic career

McMeniman made his

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut for the Queensland Reds in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

in a match against the . That season he played nine games at lock and one at blindside flanker. In 2009, McMeniman signed a two-year contract with Japanese side Kubota Spears. In 2013, he returned to Australia to play for the

. However, on 24 February, it was announced that he would leave the Force at the end of the 2014 season to join Japanese club

on a two-year stint.More Australian talent heading overseas as Hugh McMeniman decides on stint in Japan
/ref>

International career

Following a strong debut Super 12 season, McMeniman was selected for the Wallabies team for a match against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

that year in Sydney, the same game

Rocky Elsom Rocky Elsom (born 14 February 1983) is a former Australian rugby union player. He played the positions of flanker and number eight. He was selected for 75 caps for Australia. He is the most capped Australian blindside flanker. Elsom was the 7 ...

debuted in. He went on to be included in the subsequent matches against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He was elevated into the starting lineup for end of year tests against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He was then selected to go on the 2006 spring tour of the UK and Italy, but eight minutes into the first match against club side Ospreys he hyper extended his neck. In 2007 he played two Tri Nations test matches against South Africa and New Zealand, he then was selected in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where he played pool matches against Japan, Fiji, Canada where he went over twice but both were refused by the referee. He also played in the Quarter Final against England where the Wallabies lost 12-10.

References

External links

Western Force profile

Hugh McMeniman
on sporting-heroes.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMeniman, Hugh 1983 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Queensland Reds players Western Force players Rugby union locks Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union players from Brisbane Queensland University of Technology alumni Living people Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay players Mie Honda Heat players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan People from Warwick, Queensland