Rugby: Former All Black Byron Kelleher has charges dismissed for assault and wilful damage

Former All Black Byron Kelleher has been granted diversion and had his charges dismissed after being arrested for assault in Auckland last year.

The 57-cap halfback, who played his last test for New Zealand in 2007 and retired from all rugby in 2012, had his case called this morning in the Auckland District Court.

He was named yesterday after name suppression lapsed and faced charges of assault and wilful damage allegedly involving his fiancee's ex-partner.

Today, he was granted diversion and his charges were dismissed.

Kelleher, 43, was not required to appear in court for a hearing.

Kelleher was involved in a minor altercation - described by his lawyer Mark Edgar as a "push and shove match" - with his fiancee's ex-partner in September 2019 after he had been drinking alcohol, according to Stuff.

The fracas last September wasn't his first brush with the law.

The former Highlanders and Chiefs player, who spent more than a decade in France before recently returning to New Zealand, dealt with French police in 2009 following a brawl that occurred in Toulouse after a collision while driving drunk.

He was also briefly taken into custody in October 2013 for "driving while intoxicated" in Bordeaux.

In 2017, Kelleher was also found guilty of domestic violence in France.

According to French media, he was fined $300 after appearing in the Correctional court of Toulouse.