Yorkshire Carnegie '˜keep it in the family' with Kiwi capture Nic Mayhew

Yorkshire Carnegie have captured a marquee recruit with the signing of New Zealander Nic Mayhew.
Nick Mayhew.Nick Mayhew.
Nick Mayhew.

Mayhew, 29, is the younger brother of Yorkshire Carnegie skipper Richard Mayhew and follows in the footsteps of his other brother Mike into the Carnegie front row. A year ago, the former Auckland Blues prop was on the brink of an international call up for Australia, having impressed in Super Rugby with ACT Brumbies.

Although a proud Kiwi, he qualified for the Wallabies through his grandfather, Bill Rinkin, and his scrum ability put him on Test coach Michael Cheika’s radar.

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Yorkshire Carnegie director of rugby, Chris Stirling, said: “We are immensely proud that a player of Nic’s quality has agreed to join Yorkshire Carnegie.

Chris Stirling.Chris Stirling.
Chris Stirling.

“Clearly, Nic knows the club through Richard and Mike’s connections and he believes in our long-term aims and objectives.

“For a 29-year-old front-row forward, who was on the brink of a Test call up less than a year ago, to commit to Yorkshire Carnegie speaks volumes for where this club is going in the future.”

Mayhew made 11 Super Rugby appearances over two seasons with the Auckland Blues before joining the Brumbies but returned to his native New Zealand this year with North Harbour.

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He has previously played in England with Premiership club Harlequins.

He started playing rugby at local club Northcote. In 2011 he left New Zealand and, with a recommendation from former All Black and North Harbour forwards coach Craig Dowd, joined Harlequins.

As his father was born in England, Mayhew is qualified to play for both England and New Zealand. After three seasons with the Harlequins, Nic returned to Auckland in 2014 and signed with Super Rugby team the Blues, and provincial team North Harbour in the ITM Cup. In 2016, North Harbour won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final against Otago in Dunedin.

After two successful seasons playing for the Blues, Mayhew left the side at the end of 2016 and signed on to play for the Brumbies Super Rugby for 2017, and then re-signed with the team for the 2018 season.