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Keven Mealamu (born March 20, 1979 in Tokoroa, Waikato, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He plays at hooker for the Blues in the Super 14, Auckland in the National Provincial Championship, and the New Zealand national team, All Blacks. His debut for the All Blacks was on November 23, 2002, against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He played as a flanker for New Zealand Under-16s and New Zealand Schools before switching to hooker in 1998. Mealamu's provincial rugby debut was for Auckland in 1999. He first played for the Blues in 2000, but had a stint with the Chiefs in 2002 - the same year he debuted for the All Blacks.
Mealamu and All Blacks captain, Tana Umaga, were involved in an incident in the first test of the Lions tour to New Zealand on June 25, 2005. In the first minute of the Test, Mealamu and Umaga combined to upend Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll in a controversial post-ruck clean-out. The clean-out resulted in O'Driscoll dislocating his shoulder, necessitating surgery and causing him to miss the rest of the tour. O'Driscoll and Lions management characterized the incident as a "deliberate spear tackle".[1] The independent citing commissioner found that neither Mealamu nor Umaga had a case to answer at the time due to inconclusive evidence,[2] but after viewing new amateur footage of the incident, Greg Thomas, communications manager for the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), described the tackle as "unacceptably dangerous" and stated that IRB was instructing referees to suspend players for three to six months for such offenses.[3]
After the controversy, Mealamu's reputation was reinforced by his exceptional play during New Zealand's triumphant 2005 Tri Nations campaign in which he scored the key winning try and bonus point against the Springboks in Dunedin. He also scored a fine match-winning try against England later that year in Twickenham on November 19.
Mealamu also made a fine contribution to the start of the All Blacks' 2006 Tri Nations campaign with two tries against the Wallabies during the first match.
Mealamu captained the Blues through their 2006 Super 14 campaign, but was forced to relinquish the captaincy in 2007 due to his commitments to the All Blacks.
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North Harbour
