Angus Taʻavao: from the Chiefs' wider squad to All Black in one season, and a Super Rugby title at 34

At the start of the 2018 season, Angus Taʻavao was a 27-year-old prop on the fringe of the game. He had left the Blues, had not been offered a new contract by the Waratahs in Sydney, and the best Super Rugby offer he could find was a place in the Chiefs' wider squad. By the end of September he was an All Black, running out in Buenos Aires. He went on to play 23 Tests, every one of the All Blacks' matches at the 2019 World Cup, and, after an injury that cost him a whole season, every match of the Blues' 2024 title run. At 36 he is still going, named in the Highlanders' squad for 2027.

From Raglan to Dilworth

Taʻavao was born in Auckland on 22 March 1990, according to his NZ Rugby profile, and spent part of his childhood in Raglan. He wanted to be an All Black from a young age, he told his old school, and his mother applied for a place at Dilworth School in Auckland, a boarding school, because she knew those dreams would be hard to chase from the country. He arrived in Year 8, a homesick boy who missed his mum.

Rugby did not start straight away. He was too heavy for the weight limits of the school's junior team, so at Dilworth he played hockey and kept up his rugby at club level. As soon as he was old enough he moved into the First XV, and he played in it from Year 10 to Year 13, leaving in 2007. His First XV coach, August Williams, used to pick him up at 5am and drive him to Eden Park for pre-academy training, then wait and drive him back to school. "He didn't have to do that, but he did," Taʻavao told the school.

Age grade, Ireland and the Blues

After school he headed to Ireland to play rugby, then came home and started a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Auckland, the Dilworth article records. In 2010 he was picked for the New Zealand Under 20 team for the IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina. Wikipedia says he captained the side in his first match. He played four games at the tournament, and New Zealand won the title, beating Australia 62-17 in the final at Estadio Marcelo Bielsa in Rosario on 21 June 2010. The squad was full of future All Blacks: Julian Savea, Liam Coltman, Luke Whitelock, Charlie Ngatai and Tawera Kerr-Barlow among them.

He made his Auckland debut the same year and joined the Blues' wider training group in 2011. His Super Rugby debut came on 2 March 2012, for the Blues against the Chiefs at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, a 29-14 loss. Study took a back seat from then on. He stayed with the Blues until the end of the 2015 season, 49 games in all, fighting for every opportunity, as the NZ Herald later put it.

Taranaki's first title

In 2014 Taʻavao moved to Taranaki for the ITM Cup. Tukapa, in New Plymouth, is the club NZ Rugby lists him as selected from when he became an All Black. His first season there ended with a title. On 25 October 2014 he started at tighthead in the Premiership final against Tasman at Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth, and played 71 minutes as Taranaki won 36-32, with Charlie Ngatai scoring two tries and James Marshall captaining the side. It was the first time Taranaki had won a first division provincial title.

A week later, on 1 November 2014, he started at tighthead for the Barbarians against Australia at Twickenham in London, packing down in a side captained by the Scotland lock Alastair Kellock. The Wallabies won 40-36.

Sydney

For 2016 and 2017 Taʻavao signed with the Waratahs. He played 22 games for them across the two seasons, and between Super Rugby campaigns he turned out for the Northern Suburbs club in Sydney and for the Sydney Rays in Australia's National Rugby Championship. At the end of 2017 the Waratahs did not offer him a new contract. He went home to Taranaki for the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup.

The Chiefs and a phone call

Going into 2018, Taʻavao had no full Super Rugby contract. The NZ Herald reported that his best offer was a place in the Chiefs' wider squad, with no promise of a game. Then the Chiefs' front row was hit by injuries to Nepo Laulala and Atunaisa Moli, and coach Colin Cooper turned to him. He played in every one of the Chiefs' 17 games that season, according to his NZ Rugby Museum profile and Ultimate Rugby.

On 25 August 2018 Joe Moody broke his thumb in the All Blacks' 40-12 Bledisloe Cup win over Australia at Eden Park, and with Jeff Toomaga-Allen also injured, Steve Hansen called up the uncapped Chiefs tighthead. Hansen told reporters Taʻavao "has made big strides on the technical aspects of his position".

Taʻavao told Dilworth that the call was "like a roller coaster of emotions": tears, laughter and joy, and a lot of thought about the people who had helped him along the way.

Test debut in Buenos Aires

He had to wait a month. His first Test came on 29 September 2018 against Argentina at the Velez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos Aires, where he replaced Ofa Tuʻungafasi in the 51st minute. The All Blacks won 35-17 and clinched the Rugby Championship. He was 28. "Singing the anthem, I felt like crying, but I was actually laughing," he remembered.

He was All Black number 1175. Five weeks later, on 3 November 2018, he made his first Test start, at tighthead against Japan at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, a 69-31 win, and he finished the year off the bench in a 66-3 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 24 November 2018.

Every match at the 2019 World Cup

On 18 May 2019 Taʻavao played his 100th Super Rugby game, for the Chiefs against the Blues at Eden Park, the ground he had grown up thinking of as "the home of rugby for me". He had made his debut against the Chiefs and brought up his century against the Blues, who won 23-8.

With Tim Perry injured, he was in the All Blacks squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship. He started against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 20 July 2019, a 20-16 win, and came off the bench in the 16-16 draw with South Africa at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on 27 July 2019 and in both Bledisloe Cup Tests that followed.

On 28 August 2019 Hansen named him in the 31-man squad for the World Cup in Japan. Taʻavao played in all six of the All Blacks' matches at the tournament. He came on in the 23-13 win over South Africa at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama on 21 September 2019, started the 63-0 win over Canada at Oita Stadium on 2 October 2019, and scored his first Test try off the bench against Namibia at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on 6 October 2019, a 71-9 win. He then came off the bench in all three knockout matches: the 46-14 quarter-final win over Ireland in Yokohama on 19 October, the 19-7 semi-final loss to England in Yokohama on 26 October, and the 40-17 win over Wales in the bronze final in Tokyo on 1 November 2019.

Two tries in Washington

Taʻavao played no Tests in 2020. He came off the bench for the North Island against the South Island at Sky Stadium in Wellington on 5 September 2020, a 38-35 win for the South, and that November he captained Auckland in the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership final at Eden Park. Tasman won 13-12 on 28 November 2020.

He was back in black in 2021. He started the 102-0 win over Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on 3 July 2021 and played in all three Bledisloe Cup wins that year. For the Chiefs he started the Super Rugby Aotearoa final against the Crusaders at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch on 8 May 2021, which the Crusaders won 24-13.

His best Test, by NZ Rugby's own measure, came on 23 October 2021 against the United States at FedEx Field in Washington DC. He started at tighthead and scored two tries in a 104-14 win.

He played three more Tests in 2022: off the bench in both home Tests against Ireland, a 42-19 win at Eden Park on 2 July and a 23-12 loss at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 9 July, and then a start against South Africa at Mbombela Stadium in Mbombela on 6 August 2022, which South Africa won 26-10. That was his 23rd Test, and his most recent. His Test record reads 23 matches, six starts, three tries, 15 points, 18 wins, one draw and four losses.

A lost season, then a title

In October 2022 Taʻavao was stretchered off in a neck brace during an NPC match for Auckland and needed surgery. It ruled him out of the whole 2023 Super Rugby season, and the Chiefs signed the Ireland prop John Ryan in his place. Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan called it "a blow to lose Angus", adding: "He is an influential leader and big personality in our environment."

Taʻavao did not go back to Hamilton. On 8 November 2023 the Blues announced that he was coming home on a two-year deal for 2024 and 2025. "Auckland is my home," he said, and he added that he wanted to pass on to younger players what experienced players had given him as a rookie. He started the 2024 season on 49 Blues games and 135 Super Rugby games in all.

He featured in every match of the Blues' 2024 campaign, the club said, bringing up his 50th game for them along the way. On 22 June 2024, in the final against his old team the Chiefs at Eden Park, he came off the bench in the 63rd minute as the Blues won 41-10. It was the Blues' fourth Super Rugby title and their first in 21 years. Taʻavao was 34.

He played the 2025 season with the Blues as well and kept turning out for Auckland in the NPC, scoring a try against Wellington at Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua on 31 August 2025.

South to the Highlanders

On 13 August 2025 the Highlanders announced that they had signed Taʻavao for 2026, describing him as a 35-year-old with more than 260 professional appearances who could cover both sides of the scrum. "Angus brings a wealth of experience to our forward pack," head coach Jamie Joseph said. Taʻavao said he was looking forward "to adding my flavour".

He did that from the first night. On 13 February 2026, in the opening match of the Super Rugby Pacific season, the Highlanders hosted the defending champion Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Early in the second half Jonah Lowe broke the line, and Taʻavao finished the move for a try in the 45th minute. The Highlanders won 25-23 with a Cam Millar penalty two minutes from time, in front of 15,170 people, and Taʻavao became Highlander number 370 with a try on debut.

He scored again on 26 April 2026 against Moana Pasifika at One NZ Stadium in Christchurch, where his try in the 48th minute helped the Highlanders to a 27-17 win. He played 12 games in his first season, according to Wikipedia, as the Highlanders finished ninth. On 19 June 2026 the club announced that he had re-signed through to the end of 2027.

Style and standing

The NZ Rugby Museum's profile of Taʻavao opens by calling him "living proof that hard work and patience can pay dividends", and he tells his own story the same way. "I've never been the most talented guy," he told the NZ Herald in 2019, putting his career down to "hard work and not giving up".

His versatility has kept him in demand. The Blues, Highlanders and his NZ Rugby profile all describe a prop who can play on either side of the scrum, and his coaches have tended to talk about the man as much as the scrummager. Hansen praised his technical growth, McMillan his leadership and personality, Joseph his experience. The Blues, saying goodbye in 2025, spoke of his durability and the positive presence he brought to the squad and its fans. His favourite player of all time, he told the Highlanders, is Jonah Lomu.

Off the field

Taʻavao is married with two children, and family was a big reason he gave for going home to the Blues in 2024. Dilworth now holds him up as a role model for its students, and his message to them is about effort and taking chances: "Nothing in this world comes without hard work," he told the school.

Where he is now

Taʻavao turns 37 in March 2027. He was named in the Highlanders' 2027 squad on 28 October 2026, with the club listing him among the experienced core of its tight five alongside Ethan de Groot, Saula Maʻu, Mitch Dunshea, Fabian Holland and Tomás Lavanini. The squad assembles in Dunedin on 26 November 2026, and the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season begins on Friday 12 February 2027.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data and NZ Rugby. Provincial and Super Rugby appearance and points figures are from Wikipedia. The Highlanders count his Super Rugby career at 179 games across the Blues, Waratahs, Chiefs and Highlanders, and his Blues total at 82, higher than Wikipedia's totals.