Rugby New York signed Teihorangi Walden for the 2023 Major League Rugby season. The 29-year-old center (30 in May) is 6’1″ and 212 lbs.
Teihorangi is from New Plymouth, New Zealand, and grew up in Taranaki. He attended Francis Douglas Memorial College where he played rugby for the 1st XV and was the Head Boy. He also played for the Hurricanes Schools side and age-grade rugby with the Otago Academy. He studied at the University of Otago and graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography with a minor in Te Reo Māori.
Teihorangi played 4 matches for the New Zealand Under-20s at the IRB Junior World Championship in France and played 6 times for the Māori All Blacks. He made his debut for the Māori All Blacks in 2017 against the French Barbarians and in 2018 played inside center against the USA, Brazil, and Chile.
Teihorangi is an experienced back having played in 84 ITM Cup/Mitre 10 Cup matches, starting 78, and scoring 14 tries. He also played Super Rugby in 39 matches, starting 28, and scored 10 tries. In addition, he also played in a Super Rugby Aotearoa match in the 2019-20 season.
He began his senior rugby career playing for the Otago Razorbacks from 2013 to 2017. In 2015 he was on the Highlanders Wider Training Group and by 2017 on the Super Rugby side and would play 33 times for the team through 2020. He’s played for Taranaki since 2018 and in 2022 with the Hurricanes three times, including one start.
Other Articles
DJCoil Rugby articles by Doug Coil are also available on Facebook. Other Social Media sites to follow or subscribe to include Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for interviews.