Kianu Kereru-Symes (born 28 February 1999) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 ...

player, who currently plays as a hooker or

Prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for in New Zealand's domestic

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, o ...

competition and the

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR) in the United States. He has previously played for the 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

Personal life and early career

Kereru-Symes hails from Māhia, in the

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

region on the east coast of

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. His half-brother, Tom Symes, played 43 games at prop for from 2002 to 2007. His cousin Paul Symes also played 2 games for the Magpies in 1998–1999, represented and played for the

Central Vikings Central Vikings Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played in the second division of the NPC for two seasons in 1997 and 1998. The team, formed from the merger of the Hawke's Bay and Manawatu unions, featured current and future Al ...

. Kereru-Symes attended

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

, where he captained and played for the school's First XV rugby team, alongside future teammates

Folau Fakatava Folau Fakatava (born 16 December 1999) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for the in Super Rugby and in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition. Early career Fakatava was born in Nuk ...

, Devan Flanders, Lincoln McClutchie and Danny Toala. He started at loosehead prop for Hastings Boys' in their first National Top 4 final against

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

in 2016, but had to leave the field with a suspected concussion after 15 minutes. Hastings Boys' narrowly lost that final 13–14. In 2017, he captained the team to a National Top 4 victory, beating

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1911 but was later split into separate boys' and gir ...

25 to 17 in the final after an undefeated season. He played representative rugby for several

age grade teams, including at U13, U14, U16 and U19 level. Both in 2016 and 2017, Kereru-Symes was named in the Hurricanes U18 team to play the Crusaders U18 team in their annual game.

Senior career

While he played at

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

during his First XV days, Kereru-Symes switched to hooker after he left school. Kereru-Symes was, for the first time, named in the squad for the

2018 Mitre 10 Cup The 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season was the thirteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 16, when North Harbour hosted Northland. It involved the top f ...

season. He made his debut for the provincevia the benchon 8 September 2018 against and earned his first start five days later against . He scored his first try for the Magpies on 22 September 2018 against . At the end of his first season, on 23 October 2018, he won the Magpies Players Player of the Year award and Rookie of the Year award at the team's end-of-season awards function. From his first season, Kereru-Symes established himself as a reliable back-up for regular starting Magpies hooker

Ash Dixon Ash Dixon (born 1 September 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a hooker for Green Rockets Tokatsu in the Japan Rugby League One. He formerly played for the in Super Rugby and for in New Zealand's domestic Natio ...

. His excellent performance for Hawke's Bay in 2018 lead to him being named in the U20 team in 2019. He also played for the Hurricanes Development team. The following year, he was part of the wider squad and trained withand played forthe franchise during preseason. Later in 2020, he also trained with the and after being called up as injury cover. He played for the A team, but didn't get any game time in

. He was called into the squad for preseason ahead of the

2022 Super Rugby 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 fro ...

and played in their preseason game against the . On 9 April 2022, Kereru-Symes was called up by the for their game against the , as a late replacement for

Asafo Aumua Asafo Junior Aumua (; born 5 May 1997) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for New Zealand franchise Hurricanes and the New Zealand national team. In his youth, he was selected to play in the 2016 and 2017 W ...

. He was named on the reserves bench, but didn't get game time. He made his

debut three days later, on Tuesday 12 April 2022, when he started for the Hurricanes against . He scored a try on debut. On 9 January 2023, the

announced the signing of Kereru-Symes ahead of the

2023 Major League Rugby season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. He made his debut for the sidevia the reserves bench on 11 March 2023 against

Old Glory DC Old Glory DC RFC is a professional rugby union team that is a member of Major League Rugby (MLR), founded in 2018. The organization is led by two local business leaders, former USA Eagles' Paul Sheehy and local club rugby player Chris Dunlavey. ...

. On 9 July 2023, he started at loosehead prop for the New England Free Jacks in their Major League Rugby final against

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Home field The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...

. The Free Jacks won that final 25–24 to be crowned the Major League Rugby champions for the first time.

International career

In 2016, following his successful First XV season playing for

, Kereru-Symes was named in the

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 f ...

Schools' team that played matches against Australian Schools and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Schools. He played at loosehead prop in both games. A year later, he was again invited to attend the New Zealand Schools development camp, but was unavailable for selection for the New Zealand Secondary Schools team due to injury. Kereru-Symes was the captain of the New Zealand Under-20 side that competed in the

2019 Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 Oceania Rugby Under 20s, was the fifth edition of the Oceania Rugby Junior Championship. returned to the Championship tournament for the first time since 2015, replacing from the previous year and joining , , and hosts for the three ...

and the

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the twelfth edition of the premier age-grade competition for rugby. The tournament was held in Argentina for the second time, having been hosted there in 2010. Defending champions France won the un ...

Career honours

Hawke's Bay * Mitre 10 Cup Championship -

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

New England Free Jacks *

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Reference list

External links

NZ Rugby History profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kereru-Symes, Kianu 1999 births Living people Ngāti Rongomaiwahine people Ngāti Kahungunu people People educated at Hastings Boys' High School New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Māori rugby union players Rugby union players from the Hawke's Bay Region Rugby union hookers Rugby union props Hawke's Bay rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players New England Free Jacks players