Hugh McMeniman is an Australian rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer. He currently plays for Kubota

Kubota

, is a tractor and heavy equipment manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. One of its notable contributions was to the construction of the Solar Ark. The company was established in 1890.The company produces many products including:...

 in Japan and has played for Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

. His favoured position is blindside flanker but he can also play lock.

Career

McMeniman made his Super 12 debut for the Reds in 2005 in a match against the Hurricanes

Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise)

The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...

. That season he played nine games at lock and one at blindside flanker. Following a strong debut season, McMeniman was selected for the Wallabies team for a match against Samoa

Samoa national rugby union team

The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...

 that year in Sydney, the same game Rocky Elsom

Rocky Elsom

Rocky Elsom is a former captain of the Australia national rugby union team. Raised in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Elsom is one of Australia's most decorated Rugby players. Elsom has played over 50 times for Australia and has over 80 Super rugby caps with the Waratahs 2003–08 and the...

 debuted in. He went on to be included in the subsequent matches against Italy

Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

 in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 and France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 in Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

. He was elevated into the starting lineup for end of year tests against England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

, Ireland

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 and Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

. He was then selected to go on the 2006 spring tour of the UK and Italy, but eight minutes into the first match against club side Ospreys he hyper extended his neck.
In 2007 he played two Tri Nations test matches against South Africa and New Zealand, he then was selected in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where he played pool matches against Japan, Fiji, Canada where he went over twice but both were refused by the referee. He also played in the Quarter Final against England where the Wallabies lost 12-10.

In 2009, McMeniman signed a two-year contract with Japanese club Kubota.

External links

• Reds profile
• Wallabies profile
• Hugh McMeniman on sporting-heroes.net