Aaron Cruden made his debut off the bench for Waikato against Counties Manukau on Sunday. Photo / Photosport
Aaron Cruden made his debut off the bench for Waikato against Counties Manukau on Sunday. Photo / Photosport
Fifty-test former All Blacks first five-eighth Aaron Cruden made his debut for Waikato in a 35-17 NPC victory over Counties Manukau on Sunday, becoming Waikato player number 1250.
The 34-year-old former Manawatū Turbos stalwart answered an SOS from Waikato coach and former Gallagher Chiefs teammate Ross Filipo, after he lost No 10 Josh Ioane to injury.
This left Crusaders pivot Taha Kemara as the only available replacement, and there is no timeframe for Ioane’s return as of yet.
Other options, All Black Damian McKenzie and Manu Samoa’s D’Angelo Leuila, are both preparing for the Rugby World Cup with their respective test squads.
Filipo and Cruden were 2013 Super Rugby winners together and have stayed in touch.
“I just asked the question because I knew he was back in Hamilton. After the Southland game when Josh broke his arm, we were a bit stumped as to where to go next,” Filipo says.
“We’ve got some good 10s in the region but they’re all really young. They’re still developing. I think with Taha getting an opportunity to take over the reins, it felt like we needed to pair him with someone with experience.”
Although he was going away with his family to Bali, Cruden was happy to help once he returned home.
“It’s been cool seeing [Aaron] grow from 2013, he’s got a young family and he’s travelled the world now. The coolest thing about footy, is not necessarily the games you play, it’s the connections that you make along the way. Doing something special as a group, it builds really strong bonds,” Filipo says.
“Liam [Messam] is still loosely attached to our team too, so it’s kind of like a bunch of mates hanging out. We’re trying to show the next generation, that it’s more than just rugby, there are a lot of great life lessons that you can take and a lot of great life-long relationships that you can build.
“The team is really happy to have him aboard. He’s dropping gold nuggets in the huddle, being really supportive of the young players and encouraging them. He’s displaying what true professionalism looks like. We’re very fortunate to have him involved with us.”
Having represented the Chiefs 100 times between 2012 and 2020, Cruden was a familiar face at FMG Stadium Waikato, taking the field in the 59th minute for Kemara.
Kemara had come off the back of three 80-minute shifts - from August 12 to August 20 - during Waikato’s storm-week losses to Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki.
Former All Blacks first five-eighth Aaron Cruden in action for Waikato on Sunday. Photo / Photosport
“I’ve spent a lot of time at FMG Stadium so it did feel quite normal in a way. I knew a few faces within the Waikato environment so that always helps,” Cruden says.
“Once you get on the field and you’re playing, it’s just a game of rugby and you just back your skills to try and contribute as much as you can to what the team’s doing.
“That’s the great thing about rugby, you meet so many great people, you form these relationships and then opportunities come from it. I’ll stick around for as long as they’ll have me and as long as they need me I suppose. We’ll just take that on a week by week basis for now.
“It was just good fun to lace the boots up, get out on the field and have a bit of fun with the team.”
This was Cruden’s first appearance in the NPC since 2016, having appeared for the Turbos on 33 occasions.
Many fans have made jokes about Cruden going whitebaiting, as Stephen Donald did in 2011 before his late call-up to win the Rugby World Cup for the All Blacks.
“It’s not one of my strengths, white baiting, to be fair,” Cruden says with a chuckle.
“It is quite funny, a few of my mates have sent me a few little comments, but nah, there’s a lot of great depth within New Zealand rugby and I’m pretty excited to actually sit back and support the boys over in France this year. I know they’ll do really well and everyone is pretty excited.”
After leaving the Chiefs, Cruden plied his trade in Japan with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers and Tokyo Sungoliath before returning to Hamilton earlier this year.
Counties Manukau made the first try-scoring impression in the game, with centre Tevita Ofa scoring after the kickoff following a penalty goal to Waikato fullback Tepaea Cook-Savage.
But Cook-Savage dropped the restart and the visitors made the most of it, with wing Toni Pulu attracting the defence before an in-pass to Ofa, who scored.
A Riley Hohepa penalty goal just before the break gave Counties an 8-6 lead.
Waikato had enjoyed a wealth of first-half possession but needed to sharpen their act. They used their lineout to set their base.
Halfback Cortez Ratima took advantage of a rolling lineout maul, moving infield to pick up the ball and get over for the first try of the half.
Another lineout drive resulted in an advantage for Waikato, and when the ball was moved, a miss pass from Kemara was taken by wing Daniel Sinkinson to score.
Another lineout maul resulted in a penalty try for Waikato, with replacement hooker Ioane Moananu sin-binned.
Sinkinson was rewarded for his work in the lead-up to the next try, again after a lineout, and crossed when the ball was moved, picking it up at the breakdown and scoring.
Counties Manukau looked likely to score in the following play, but second five-eighth Quinn Tupaea picked off an intercept and ran 70 metres to score - finishing off an outstanding outing for him.
However, the visitors had a final chance and wing Etene Nanai-Seturo showed his class after a break by Hohepa to step past three defenders and score near the posts.
Waikato will face North Harbour on Saturday at North Harbour Stadium but we’re yet to see if Cruden will once again don the red, yellow and black kit.
