Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Waikato and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is fly-half (first five-eighth).

Cruden is of Māori descent.^[1] He was born in Palmerston North and attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. He captained the 2006 Palmerston North Boys' High School 1st XV which included the likes of Hadleigh Parkes, Kurt Baker and Andre Taylor.^[2]

Cruden was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 19, which necessitated the removal of one of his testicles. The cancer has since gone into remission.^[3]

In 2008, Cruden attended the High Performance Player's Course at the International Rugby Academy NZ (IRANZ).^{[citation needed]} Cruden's Positional Coach was former All Black Grant Fox and Course Facilitator former All Black Jeff Wilson.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010 Cruden made his debut for the All Blacks in a test match against Ireland.

On 30 May 2010, Cruden had been named as one of four new caps in the All Blacks squad to play test matches against Ireland and Wales.^[15] On 12 June 2010, Cruden made his All Blacks debut in the 66–28 victory over Ireland in New Plymouth, replacing Dan Carter in the 53rd minute.^[16] Cruden made his second appearance in an All Blacks jersey on 19 June 2010, when again he replaced Dan Carter, in the 42–9 victory over Wales, in the last ever match at Carisbrook in Dunedin.^[17] He scored his first try for the All Blacks on 26 June 2010 in a 29–10 victory over Wales in Hamilton.^[18]

On 17 July 2010, Cruden made his Tri Nations debut for the All Blacks as a 73rd-minute substitute for Ma'a Nonu in a 31–17 victory over the Springboks at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.^[19]

On 2 October 2011, during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, it was announced Cruden had been called up as a replacement in the All Blacks squad for Dan Carter, after the New Zealand starting fly-half injured his groin during training. On 9 October 2011, Cruden replaced Colin Slade in the first half of the All Blacks' 33-10 World Cup Quarter Final victory over Argentina, at Eden Park, and contributed a conversion to the score.^[20] On 9 October 2011, Cruden again replaced Colin Slade, now as starting fly-half, due to a groin injury received by Slade during the World Cup Quarter Final with Argentina.^[21] Cruden started the match at First Five-Eighth against Australia on 16 October 2011, in the World Cup Semi Final at Eden Park, scoring a drop goal in the 20-6 victory for the All Blacks. On 23 October 2011, Cruden started for the All Blacks in the World Cup Final at Eden Park, but left the field in the 34th minute with a knee injury, believed to be hyperextension. The All Blacks went on to win the game against France 8-7 and Cruden picked up his World Cup winners' medal.^[22]

Cruden won his twelfth cap for the All Blacks in the final test against Ireland in Hamilton on 23 June 2012 replacing the injured Dan Carter in the starting line-up.^[23] Cruden set up two tries for Sonny Bill Williams and had a hand in a third and kicked two conversions before limping off during the first half of the 60-0 All Blacks victory.^[24]

Cruden received rave reviews following his performance against Ireland.^[25][26]

On 8 September 2012, Cruden started in the 2012 Rugby Championship Test against Argentina. The match was played in atrocious conditions at The Caketin in Wellington. Cruden kicked three penalties and one conversion in the All Blacks' 21-5 victory.^[27]

Cruden returned to Super Rugby as captain of the Chiefs and was re-selected for New Zealand in 2016, having missed the 2015 season due to injury. Cruden was initially used as the starting fly-half, but continued to struggle with injury. This meant that Beauden Barrett- who was consistently playing better and better was able to supplant Cruden.

Cruden came off the bench in all three tests against the British and Irish Lions in the 2017 series, playing his 50th and final test for New Zealand in the drawn 15-15 series decider against the Lions.

More information Against, Pld ...

Against	Pld	W	D	L	Tri	Con	Pen	DG	Pts	%Won
Argentina	4	4	0	0	0	5	7	0	31	100
Australia	7	6	1	0	2	6	7	1	46	92.86
England	5	4	0	1	0	6	10	0	42	80
France	4	4	0	0	0	6	6	0	30	100
Italy	1	1	0	0	0	4	3	0	17	100
Ireland	4	4	0	0	0	5	1	0	13	100
South Africa	4	4	0	0	0	4	3	0	17	100
Wales	3	3	0	0	1	3	4	0	23	100
Total	32	30	1	1	3	39	41	1	219	95.31

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Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

Correct as of 24 June 2014

International tries

As of 20 November 2021 ^[28]

More information Try, Opposing team ...

Try	Opposing team	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result	Score
1	Wales	Hamilton, New Zealand	Waikato Stadium	2010 June rugby union tests	26 June 2010	Win	29 – 10
2	Australia	Sydney, Australia	ANZ Stadium	2013 Rugby Championship	17 August 2013	Win	29 – 47
3	Australia	Dunedin, New Zealand	Forsyth Barr Stadium	2013 end-of-year rugby union internationals	19 October 2013	Win	41 – 33
4	United States	Chicago, United States	Soldier Field	2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals	1 November 2014	Win	6 – 74
5	England	London, England	Twickenham Stadium	2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals	8 November 2014	Win	21 – 24

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Manawatu

• NPC Championship Winner: 2014