Kees Meeuws Born - 26. 7. 74 Physical - 1.83 m ; 117 kg
Nick Name: Bad news
His father, Cornelius, who passed away in 1994, was born in Holland and while his son has travelled there he has yet to explore his heritage and discover the background his father frequently talked of. It is a project he will one day undertake. His mother, Rebecca died 10 years before and it was from her that he drew his strong Maori heritage. He is of the Ngati Maru and Ngati Whare and his Iwi is Parahauraki. It is another side of his life he one day will get to grips with and explore when the time comes. He is the youngest member of a close family that included four sisters and two brothers. He is talented artist and the two years he spent at Auckland University were in pursuit of an arts degree.
He first came to light in rugby in 1986 when selected for the Auckland
Under-13 side. He continued to play in the various age-group sides and
was just 15 when he played first XV rugby for Rutherford High School. He
found difficulty in getting into the Auckland side with incumbent All Blacks,
Olo Brown and Craig Dowd forming the front row and in 1996 he was drafted
into the Highlanders. He stayed in the south and the year after became
a permanent member of the Otago NPC side where he formed a tough front
row with Carl Hoeft. He made the New Zealand 2nd XV in 1998 and in the
same year the NZ Maoris. His elevation to the All Blacks in 1998 was therefore
no surprise. He has remained one of the cornerstones of the NZ pack ever
since. He played his first game for the Blues in 2002. His clubs in Auckland
were Grammar and Te Atatu, now named Waitakere City.
Meeuws trekjes.....
I'd hate to be without: - My money
My other major interest is: - Cooking
My ambition in life is: - To be the best that I can
If I was stranded on a desert island I'd like to meet:
- Wife and kids
Voor kenners...
Started off his Super 12 career with the Highlanders in 1997 and played
47 matches for the southern franchise before returning to Auckland in 2002.
Also played 46 games for Otago between 1997-01. Scored five tries in
five Tests in 2002 set a record for a Test prop in a calendar year.
Is the second cousin of 1964-66 All Black, the late Ron Rangi. Has
represented New Zealand through all the grades from Under-17 (in 1991)
through to the All Blacks. Bagged three tries in the 2004 Super 12: against
the Stormers, Cats and in the semi-final against the Brumbies. With his
try against Tonga at the RWC 2003, Meeuws became the test try scoring record
holder for a Prop with nine tries. He has since added to that total. The
most famous pig hunter ever to play for the All Blacks, Kees Meeuws returned
to Auckland in 2002 to help his home province win the NPC title. He had
previously won it with Otago in 1998. Meeuws also re-established himself
in the All Blacks, leading the tight forwards admirably on the 2002 end
of season tour to Europe where he was easily the most experienced player.
Noted for his study of fine art, Meeuws developed a try-scoring habit in
2002, with his tally of five for the All Blacks being surpassed only by
winger Doug Howlett.
Het laatste nieuws over Kees, hij gaat naar Frankrijk en ziet daar spoken (bericht van 19 juni 2005) hij is ook bezig een boek te schrijven, titel: le Rugbyman.
Media : Spooked rugby star flees ghost-house.
Posted by Paul on 2005/6/19 0:17:22 (81 reads)
Former All Black hard man Kees Meeuws, now playing rugby in France,
was so spooked by ghosts in his first French home that he fled the historic
house with his petrified family.
Weeks after moving into a 400-year-old former stable house last November,
Meeuws and his family were driven out again by footsteps, opening doors
and windows, shadows, and a little girl.
In his soon-to-be-released book Le Rugbyman, Meeuws tells how he and
fellow Castres team mate and New Zealander Brad Fleming should have known
the house was haunted when they toured it with a real estate agent before
his family's arrival.
"All was fine until we reached the third level . . . as soon as I crossed
the threshold all the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
"I felt a chill run through me . . . I turned to Brad and whispered
`Did you feel that?' and he nodded back in agreement," Meeuws said.
Despite the spooky beginning Meeuws decided to move his family into
the house while they looked for a more permanent home. But from the moment
the family moved in, the house was unsettling and eventually "freaked them
out". Meeuws said his daughter Eva, then aged three, asked him about a
little girl in the house when they first arrived. "Dad, where's the little
girl?" Eva asked. When Meeuws asked, "Who?" his daughter replied, "The
little girl, this is the little girl's house". His daughter then pointed
to the third floor of the house and said the girl was there.
Meeuws and wife Juanita tried to make sense of their daughter's talk,
and of other unworldly happenings such as locked doors and windows flying
open, ash from a fireplace being strewn over their belongings and footsteps
at night. "It had to be a more reasonable explanation than the one we didn't
want to make. We don't believe in ghosts." The family was finally driven
from the house when Juanita was at home with her daughters during the day
and heard footsteps upstairs in the house. She grabbed the children and
fled the house. The family stayed at Fleming's apartment. Meeuws said another
Castres' team mate had stayed at the house and also spoke of it being haunted.
He later learnt the house and the chateau on the same grounds was the scene
of many murders during the French Revolution. An elderly local farmer said
the last person to die there was a girl aged eight or nine.