Teihorangi Thomas Walden (born 25 May 1993) 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 midfield back for in New Zealand's domestic

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

and the in the international

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 ...

competition.

Early career

Walden is originally from New Plymouth and was schooled at Francis Douglas Memorial College in his hometown where he played first XV rugby. During his schooldays, he was selected in the schools side alongside future teammate Jackson Hemopo. He moved south to Dunedin to attend university and at the same time began working his way through the rugby structures; he was a member of their academy, played for their age group sides and also turned out for Southern in the local Otago rugby competition.

Senior career

His first taste of senior rugby came with the Otago Razorbacks in

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, making 5 appearances including 1 start as the men from Dunedin finished as runner up on the Championship log before being defeated by in the semi-finals. In

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he established himself as a regular with 9 starts and 2 tries in what was a disappointing season overall for Otago, culminating in a 6th-place finish out of 7 teams.

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was much more positive for both Walden and the Razorbacks with him starting 9 times and scoring 1 try and Otago finishing 3rd on the log before being comprehensively defeated by in the semi-finals. He was again in fine form during the

2016 Mitre 10 Cup The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the ...

scoring 2 tries in 11 games as the Razorbacks finished 1st on the championship log before surprisingly succumbing to in the tournament final which consigned them to another season of championship rugby in 2017.

Super Rugby

Some impressive performances in an under-performing Otago side brought him to the attention of Dunedin-based Super Rugby franchise, the who named him as a member of their wider training group for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. 2015 was to prove to be a memorable year for the Highlanders who lifted the Super Rugby title for the first time in their history, while for Walden, the presence of midfield backs such as

Malakai Fekitoa Malakai Fonokalafi Fekitoa (born 10 May 1992) is a Tongan rugby union player who plays as a centre. He currently plays for Irish club Munster. He previously played for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition, in the ITM Cup, and for ...

, Richard Buckman, Jason Emery and Shaun Treeby meant he had to spend the year kicking his heels on the sidelines. His Super Rugby debut came the following year in week 1 of the competition, a 33–31 defeat away to the Blues. Overall he scored one try in 6 matches while still a wider training group member in 2016 and new Highlanders head coach, Tony Brown saw fit to promote him to the full squad for

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International career

Walden was a member of the New Zealand Under-20 side which finished 4th in the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

in France, although he didn't get any game time during the tournament.

Super Rugby statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, Teihorangi 1993 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Māori rugby union players Rugby union centres Otago rugby union players Rugby union players from New Plymouth People educated at Francis Douglas Memorial College Highlanders (rugby union) players Living people Taranaki rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Māori All Blacks players