Former Hurricanes prop Kuramate Tuirirangi made his Queensland Reds debut in the 2007 Super 14. Tuirirangi started in the Reds' front-row as an injury replacement against the Western Force almost four years after playing his last game for the Hurricanes.

In playing for the Reds Tuirirangi became one of a select few New Zealand players to play Super Rugby for an overseas franchise, the others in the Hurricanes being Gordon Falcon who played for the Brumbies and Joggie Viljoen who played for the Stormers.

The Invercargill born Taranaki and New Zealand U21 prop played for the Hurricanes in 1999, and 2000 and six times for the Chiefs in 2001. He missed most of 2002 after suffering from a career-threatening prolapsed disc neck injury, but recovered to play for Taranaki in the latter stages of the 2002 NPC and played again for the Hurricanes in 2003.