Profile Text
Birth Name: Andrew Philip Mehrtens
Place of Birth: Durban, South Africa
Date of Birth: 28 April, 1973
Ethnicity: German (paternal grandfather), Scottish, English, Northern Irish, Irish
Andrew Mehrtens is a New Zealand rugby union player. A first five-eighth, he played for Béziers, Racing Métro 92, Toulon, and Harlequins, as well as for Canterbury, Crusaders, and the New Zealand national team. He has scored a then-record 967 points in 70 Test Matches for the All Blacks . He is a pundit at Stan Sport Australia.
Andrew was born in Durban, South Africa, to New Zealander parents. He was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. His father, Terry, taught Te Reo Māori at a Tuahiwi school; he was also a rugby player, who represented Canterbury, and was a New Zealand under-23. His sister is married to rugby union player Reuben Thorne.
Andrew’s paternal grandfather was George Mehrtens (George Martin Mehrtens, the son of Diedrich Mehrtens and Caroline Auguste Ernestine Wilke). George was born in Rangiora, New Zealand, and was a rugby union player; a fullback, he played for Canterbury and the New Zealand national team. His parents were German. Diedrich was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, the son of Juergen Mehrtens and Sophia Gertrud Ficken. Caroline was born in Lunow, the daughter of Fredrich Wilhelm Wilke and Caroline Wilhelmine Ernestine Gerner.
Andrew’s paternal grandmother was Evelyn Elizabeth Sterling Leslie (the daughter of Archibald Leslie and Rose Josephine Breeze McBlain). Evelyn was born in New Zealand. Archibald was born in Hokitika, New Zealand, and likely had Scottish ancestry. Rose was born in Hokitika. Rose’s father, Joseph Jerome Breeze, was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, to an English father, from Warwickshire, and to an Irish mother, from County Wicklow. Rose’s mother, Elizabeth Jane Jessie McBlain, had a father from County Down, Northern Ireland and a mother who was Scottish.
Sources: https://www.teaomaori.news
Genealogy of Andrew’s father – https://www.familysearch.org