Byron Kelleher

Byron Terence Kelleher (born 3 December 1976 in Dunedin, New Zealand) is a former rugby union scrum-half who played for Stade Toulouse in the French Top 14 and has played 57 tests for the All Blacks. He was a very aggressive player, who specialized in pick-and-go techniques.

Rugby career
He was educated at Otago Boys' High School, and originally played for Otago in the NPC and the Highlanders in the Super 14. He moved north in 2004 to play for Waikato and the Chiefs. He is 1.75m tall and weighs 95 kg. He was New Zealand's Super 12 Player of the Year in 1999.

Kelleher had signed a contract to play for Agen in the Top 14 after the 2007 Rugby World Cup; however, the club's relegation to the second-level Rugby Pro D2 after the 2006–07 Top 14 season caused the contract to be cancelled. Kelleher went on to sign with traditional Top 14 powers Toulouse, effective with the end of the Rugby World Cup. He won the "Bouclier de Brennus" (the French Rugby Union Title) in the 2007–08 Top 14 season with Stade Toulousain, and was elected by the Top 14 players as the season's best player. In 2010 he played in the final as Toulouse won the Heineken Cup.

In 2010, he was selected in the French Barbarians squad to play Tonga on 26 November.

He was known as an unpredictable and unorthodox halfback, with his speed and strength, sometimes preferring to run with the ball and make line-breaks rather than passing the ball after rucks and mauls.

After his sports retirement, he became an international ambassador for Airbus, a rugby consultant for Sky Sports, acquired half of the shares of Evangelina, a bar-restaurant in Toulouse, opened a consulting company specialised in French lifestyle and rugby and volunteered for a regional French NGO called "L'Ombre du Baobab" to help children in Sumba island.

Relationships
In December 2004, Kelleher met American porn-star Ashley Spalding, better known as Kaylani Lei. They dated and lived together until they split in June 2006. British newspaper The Independent called them "a raunchy Antipodean answer to Posh and Becks", referring to the high-profile relationship of football player David Beckham and his wife ex-Spice Girl Victoria.

In 2009, Kelleher was dating Julie Novès, 22 years old at the time and daughter of Toulouse manager Guy Novès while he was involved in a car crash and assaulted another driver. The media thought involving his coach's daughter in a car accident would get him in further troubles.

A close friend of the Prince and Princess of Monaco, he was one of the guests at the couple's wedding in July 2011. The press suspected he was romantically involved with the Princess and New Zealand beer brand Tui jokingly created billboards referencing to the rumour.

Domestic incidents and legal problems
Kelleher has been involved in several incidents. In October 2009, he was charged for driving under the influence of alcohol and assault. On 11 September, he drove drunk, crashed his car into a Porsche, assault was involved with violence and got arrested by the French police. He received a two-month suspended jail term and was fined on this occasion and was released. He was arrested again in October 2013 for driving on the wrong side of the road while four times over the legal alcohol limit. In June 2016, he was arrested for destruction and domestic violence. After vandalising a door and verbally attacking a woman he was with, he was taken to a police station and placed in a drunk tank but was released after the women was examined by a doctor and nothing was wrong with her. The woman refused to press charges for fear of reprisals according to French police but lived with Kelleher in a relationship after these accusations. Kelleher was ultimately convicted over the matter in early March 2017 and received a fine, with the prosecutor stating that the "violence was not colossal, but strongly existed".

In mid January 2024, Kelleher appeared in a French court on domestic violence charges against his former partner. The former partner alleged that he was "verbally and physically violent" in 2015 after she gave birth to their son and ended the relationship. Kelleher returned to France in 2022 to reconnect with his son, when the violence resumed. The former partner alleged that Kelleher got drunk frequently and repeatedly insulted and physically assaulted her, including strangulation. Kelleher has denied these allegations.

Following his 2024 French court appearance, another former fiancée Yuliana Desta alleged five incidents of domestic violence perpetrated by Kelleher while they were in a relationship between 2018 and 2020. In May 2019, Desta filed a report with Bali police after Kelleher allegedly punched her in the face and forehead after she discovered his affair with another woman. Kelleher subsequently left Indonesia before police could speak with him. In 2019, Desta filed a report with Barcelona police after Kelleher allegedly tried to suffocate her with a pillow and gave her two black eyes following an argument. Desta escape and informed the hotel staff, who called police. Kelleher was arrested and spent two days in custody, but Desta convinced police not to file charges. Desta also alleged that an intoxicated Kelleher strangled her following a combined birthday and engagement dinner in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour in late 2019. Desta did not report the alleged assault to Police after Kelleher's parents begged her not to. Desta however said she changed her mind following media coverage of the French abuse allegations. In March 2020, Kelleher had appeared in the Auckland District Court on charges of assault and wilful damage following a fracas involving Desta's ex-partner in Auckland in late 2019. Kelleher's lawyer Mark Edgar had sought name suppression but Stuff successfully appealed against it.

In May 2024, Kelleher received a fine and a suspended sentence from a French court for domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend.

Cultural appropriation
In September 2015, Byron Kelleher opened a rugby-themed bar in Toulouse named The Haka Corner. Māori motives were used as promotional material and French fans were encouraged to film themselves doing a haka through a Facebook page. In New Zealand, Māori Party leader Te Ururoa Flavell and its predecessor Sir Pita Sharples criticized the use of the Māori culture for business and personal gain. They also deemed the association of Māori culture with alcohol unacceptable. They stressed that Kelleher was not a Māori and therefore should not organize such events. The Haka Corner later issued a statement claiming the haka challenge was organized to help "hospitalised children" and was not a promotional tool for the bar. They also said the bar would help French people discover New Zealand culture. Kelleher told a French newspaper that Māori leaders "picked up the wrong fight" in opposing his haka challenge. New Zealand Rugby also asked for an explanation when they learned The Haka Corner sold official Classic All Blacks clothing altered to include branding for the bar. They declared the All Blacks brand was protected by trademark laws and that a licence was necessary to use it. In September 2016, it was reported Kelleher had sold his shares of the Evangelina, his Toulouse-based restaurant, and of The Haka Corner. Journalists speculated that this was partly related to the various controversies he was linked to.