Aaron Cruden’s 100th Super Rugby milestone to be recognised
Chiefs first five-eighth, Aaron Cruden, will be officially recognised tomorrow night when he becomes the 46th player to play 100 Investec Super Rugby matches for a New Zealand team.
Cruden will mark the milestone in front of a home crowd at FMG Stadium Waikato when the Gallagher Chiefs take on the Blues in the highly anticipated Round 2 Battle of the Bombays clash at 7.35pm on Friday night.
He is only the fifth Chiefs player to achieve the rare feat of playing in a total of 100 Investec Super Rugby matches. Cruden debuted in Super Rugby for the Hurricanes in 2010, playing 25 games for the team before moving north to the Chiefs in 2012 and playing a further 74 games for that team. Cruden was a key part of the 2012 and 2013 Investec Super Rugby championship victories with the Chiefs and has run up a total of 770 Super Rugby points to date.
New Zealand Rugby Vice President Maurice Trapp will present Cruden with a greenstone mere, the traditional gift for players who have played 100 Super Rugby matches, all for New Zealand teams.
New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Steve Tew acknowledged Cruden’s contribution to each of the teams he has represented.
“Aaron has been a star of Super Rugby, first for the Hurricanes and then the Chiefs. He’s an exciting playmaker with great vision and his prolific points scoring was integral to the Chiefs back-to-back championship wins. On behalf of New Zealand Rugby, we congratulate him on the pending milestone.”
Gallagher Chiefs Head Coach Dave Rennie said Cruden was an outstanding player who deserved to celebrate the rare milestone.
“It’s been a pleasure to witness Aaron’s development over the last decade. I’m really proud of what he’s achieved, not only as an outstanding player but as an inspirational leader who understands the importance of giving back to his community. It’s great he gets to celebrate the occasion in front of family, especially mum Missy and wife Grace, the two biggest influences in his life,” Rennie said.
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