Huia Edmonds

A New Zealand-born hooker of Maori ancestry, Huia Edmonds was the second member of his family to wear Wallaby gold after brother and fly half Manny did so in the late 1990s.

Huia made his way as an aged-grade Australian representative before he debuted for the NSW Waratahs in 2001 and then played his first Super Rugby game the following year. However, after he won just 12 caps in his four years at NSW, Edmonds left Australia for South Africa in 2005 where he represented Western Province in the Currie Cup and the Stormers in Super Rugby.

Edmonds returned home in 2008 and settled with the ACT Brumbies behind incumbent hooker Stephen Moore. It was not until 2010 and injuries to Moore and the Waratahs’ Tatafu Polota-Nau that Edmonds’ name finally made it into the frame for national selection. He made his Test debut ,and a rare start in the No.2 jersey, against Fiji in Canberra. Although it proved to be his lone Test start, Edmonds gave the jersey to his uncle, former New Zealand Maori front rower Huia Gordon.

Edmonds left the Brumbies at the end of 2011 after he signed a three-year deal with English club Gloucester.

Highlights

2000

Represented Australia at the U19s IRB-FIRA World Cup in France.

2002

Selected in the Australian squad for the inaugural IRB U21 Rugby World Championships in South Africa.

2010

Edmonds won his first Test cap as the starting hooker in the 49-3 victory over Fiji in Canberra. He came off the bench in each of the home Tests against England before he earned his final cap on the end-of-season Spring Tour against Wales.