New Zealand Rugby mourns Kurtis Haiu

Apr 13 • General News, International • 1345 Views • Comments Off on New Zealand Rugby mourns Kurtis Haiu

New Zealand Rugby has today expressed its sadness at the death of former Blues and New Zealand age grade player Kurtis Haiu following his battle with cancer at age 31.

“This is a devastatingly sad time for Kurtis’ young family, and for his rugby family,” New Zealand Rugby General Manager Rugby Neil Sorensen said.

“Kurtis was a very talented rugby player who was also showing some great skills as a leader. Like a lot of forwards, he never shied away from the tough stuff and it is a real tradegy he didn’t win this.

“We offer our condolences to Kurtis’ family and our thoughts at this time are very much with Kurtis’ wife Frieda, and their two daughters Aaliyah, 8, and Sienna, 6,” he said.

Kurtis Haiu was born in Whangarei in 1984. He made his provincial debut for Auckland in 2005 against the British & Irish Lions, playing over 70 games for the blue and whites through until 2010. The following year he made his Blues’ debut against the Hurricanes, going on to play 53 games for the club before his diagnosis with Ewings Sarcoma – a rare form of bone cancer – prematurely ended his season and career.

A talented lock, his potential was identified early – he wore his first black jersey while at Sacred Heart College – and Haiu represented New Zealand at Secondary Schools (in 2002), Under 19 (2003) and Under 21 (2004) levels.