Teihorangi Walden

Teihorangi Thomas Walden (born 25 May 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a midfield back for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. He also plays for the Rugby New York (Ironworkers) in Major League Rugby (MLR).

Early career

Walden is originally from New Plymouth and was schooled at Francis Douglas Memorial College in his hometown where he played first XV rugby. During his schooldays, he was selected in the schools side alongside future teammate Jackson Hemopo.

Senior career

His first taste of senior rugby came with the Otago Razorbacks in 2013, making 5 appearances including 1 start as the men from Dunedin finished as runner up on the Championship log before being defeated by in the semi-finals. In 2014 he established himself as a regular with 9 starts and 2 tries in what was a disappointing season overall for Otago, culminating in a 6th-place finish out of 7 teams.

2015 was much more positive for both Walden and the Razorbacks with him starting 9 times and scoring 1 try and Otago finishing 3rd on the log before being comprehensively defeated by in the semi-finals. He was again in fine form during the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup scoring 2 tries in 11 games as the Razorbacks finished 1st on the championship log before surprisingly succumbing to in the tournament final which consigned them to another season of championship rugby in 2017. 2015 was to prove to be a memorable year for the Highlanders who lifted the Super Rugby title for the first time in their history, while for Walden, the presence of midfield backs such as Malakai Fekitoa, Richard Buckman, Jason Emery and Shaun Treeby meant he had to spend the year kicking his heels on the sidelines. His Super Rugby debut came the following year in week 1 of the competition, a 33–31 defeat away to the Blues. Overall he scored one try in 6 matches while still a wider training group member in 2016 and new Highlanders head coach, Tony Brown saw fit to promote him to the full squad for 2017. Personal life Walden is a New Zealander of Māori descent (Te Atiawa descent).

Super Rugby statistics