Anton Lienert-Brown: the Christchurch schoolboy Wayne Smith took north, now 94 Tests on

In 2012 Wayne Smith flew to Christchurch to watch a Christchurch Boys' High School second five-eighth, and the Chiefs signed him. A decade and more later, Anton Lienert-Brown has played 94 Tests for the All Blacks, the same number as Conrad Smith, has been to two Rugby World Cups, has played 126 games for the Chiefs, and in June 2026 won a Japanese title with Kobe Steelers on a sabbatical before coming home to the All Blacks.

A Christchurch boy who dreamed in red and black

Anton Russell Lienert-Brown was born in Christchurch on 15 April 1995, and grew up there with his older brother Daniel, two years his senior. Both went to Christchurch Boys' High School, and both became professional players: Daniel is a loosehead prop who has played for Canterbury and is a Highlanders centurion.

Anton wanted to play for the Crusaders, the team he idolised growing up. "I did dream of being a Crusader," he told 1News in 2021. He came through the Canterbury academy alongside Richie Mo'unga. In 2016 he named Sonny Bill Williams as his favourite player, the man he had just replaced in the All Blacks squad, and Michael Jordan as his favourite sportsperson.

Boys' High and a move north

At Christchurch Boys' High he played second five-eighth for the First XV, and Wikipedia records that his performances in the 2012 South Island finals caught the eye. One of the people watching was Wayne Smith, the former All Blacks assistant coach who was then helping the Chiefs. Smith went to see him play second five, another player caught his eye that day too, and the Chiefs ended up signing both: Lienert-Brown and Damian McKenzie.

Lienert-Brown has admitted it was rare for Canterbury youngsters to leave the Crusaders, and he has called the move a risk. "I took a risk moving up here but it's worked out," he said in 2021. The Crusaders tried to bring him home in 2017, 1News reported, but he stayed with Waikato.

His first steps as a Chief were delayed. He dislocated a shoulder in a schools match in 2012 and missed the 2013 season, which also cost him a likely place in the Waikato ITM Cup squad that year. He became Christchurch Boys' High's 43rd All Black, from a school that has also produced Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick and the coaches Graham Henry and Steve Hansen.

Super Rugby before club rugby

The Chiefs, Super Rugby champions in 2012 and 2013, put him in their wider training group for 2014. His Super Rugby debut came on 29 March 2014, aged 18, against the Bulls in Pretoria, a 34-34 draw. He started on the wing, an unfamiliar spot, and was replaced by Tim Nanai-Williams in the 51st minute. He has said himself that he played Super Rugby before he had played a senior club game. The NZ Rugby Museum lists his club as Waikato University.

Later that year he made his Waikato debut against Wellington, a win, as Waikato cap number 1131.

New Zealand Under 20

He played for New Zealand Under 20 in 2014 and 2015, nine games and 15 points in all. At the 2014 Junior World Championship, played in New Zealand, he captained the side in a match against Samoa at North Harbour. In 2015 he was part of the squad, coached by Scott Robertson, that won the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Italy, beating England 21-16 in the final in Cremona. When he made his All Blacks debut the next year, he was the first player from that title-winning team to do so.

The call-up

In 2016 Charlie Ngatai was ruled out with concussion and Lienert-Brown became a regular starter in the Chiefs midfield. That August, Sonny Bill Williams suffered a season-ending injury playing sevens at the Rio Olympics, and Lienert-Brown was called into the All Blacks' Rugby Championship squad in his place. He first wore the jersey in a practice match against Counties Manukau at Pukekohe, and he said afterwards it was a dream come true. The All Blacks coach Steve Hansen explained the choice simply: "he can cover inside and outside centre."

When Ryan Crotty was concussed, Lienert-Brown was picked to start at No 12 against Australia in Wellington on 27 August 2016. With his first touch in Test rugby he set up a try for Israel Dagg, he lasted until the 76th minute, and the All Blacks won 29-9. He came off the bench against Argentina in Hamilton and South Africa in Christchurch, then started against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 1 October and scored the opening try in a 36-17 win, his first in Tests. He scored again in a 37-10 win over Australia at Eden Park, and on the end-of-year tour he started against Italy in Rome, Ireland in Dublin and France in Paris. Nine Tests, nine wins, in his first season.

The Lions and a crowded midfield

He opened the 2017 Test year with a try in the 78-0 win over Samoa at Eden Park, starting in the midfield alongside Williams. In the series against the British and Irish Lions he came off the bench in the first Test when Crotty's hamstring went in the 33rd minute, a 30-15 win, then started and played the full 80 minutes in the second and third Tests: a 24-21 loss in Wellington and the 15-15 draw at Eden Park, in which he set up Jordie Barrett's first Test try.

He played 13 Tests in 2017, eight of them off the bench, and scored a try against Wales in Cardiff from a Rieko Ioane pass. In 2018 seven of his 11 Tests came off the bench, including one in Buenos Aires in which he scored.

2019: the breakthrough year

The 2019 season kept him busy. Wikipedia, citing Super Rugby statistics, records that he made more offloads than any other player in that season's competition, and with Crotty and Goodhue injured he played almost every minute of the All Blacks' early Tests. He scored in the 47-26 loss to Australia in Perth, and after the 36-0 win at Eden Park a week later Ian Foster, then an assistant coach, singled him out. "He's a bit unorthodox, he doesn't run lines that everyone else runs," Foster said, adding that his work rate in support kept him in good stead. The midfield race for the World Cup was crowded, with Crotty, Goodhue, Williams, Ngani Laumape and Braydon Ennor all in contention.

Hansen named him in the 31-man squad for the World Cup in Japan, and he started the opener against South Africa in Yokohama, a 23-13 win, alongside Crotty. Against Namibia in Tokyo, with the All Blacks only 5-3 up, he took an inside ball from Ardie Savea 40 metres out, broke through two defenders and fended off two more to score. He added a second try in the 71-9 win and was named man of the match, with 103 running metres, four line-breaks and 10 tackles. He started the quarter-final win over Ireland (46-14) and the semi-final loss to England (7-19), and came off the bench in the 40-17 win over Wales for third place.

Fifty Tests, and a run of injuries

In 2020 he played for the North Island in the first North v South match since 2012, came off the bench in the 16-16 draw with Australia in Wellington, then started the next five Tests at centre.

The next two years were harder. Elbow surgery kept him out of the first two Tests of 2021, and he came back for the second Test against Fiji in Hamilton on 17 July, his 50th Test, a 60-13 win. He scored three Test tries that year, but against Ireland in Dublin in November he hurt a shoulder, and in April 2022 the same shoulder went again early in the Chiefs' 25-0 loss to the Blues in Hamilton. He needed surgery and was out for six months, which he called a bump in the road in a post on Instagram. He missed the All Blacks' Tests from July to September 2022 and returned on the end-of-year tour, coming off the bench against Japan in Tokyo and starting against Scotland at Murrayfield in a 31-23 win.

An ankle injury in the first round of 2023 kept him out again, and he came back on 5 May 2023 in Dunedin for his 100th Chiefs game. His coach Clayton McMillan marked the occasion by saying "Anton sets the bar in our team," for work rate, passion and competitiveness.

Finals, a suspension and a second World Cup

He has started three finals for the Chiefs, all lost: the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa final against the Crusaders in Christchurch (24-13), the 2023 final in Hamilton (25-20 to the Crusaders) and the 2024 final at Eden Park (41-10 to the Blues). The 2023 final cost him more than a title. He was shown a yellow card in the ninth minute, and was later suspended for a high tackle on Dallas McLeod from a kick-off, missing the All Blacks' July wins over Argentina and South Africa. The ban was cut by a week after he completed World Rugby's tackle course, and back at training he joked that he was now an expert.

At the 2023 World Cup in France he started the opener against France in Paris (a 27-13 loss), scored in the 71-3 win over Namibia in Toulouse and the 96-17 win over Italy in Lyon, and started against Uruguay. From the quarter-final on he was on the bench: against Ireland in Paris, a 28-24 win in which 1News said he excelled, against Argentina in the semi-final, and in the final against South Africa, lost 12-11.

Every Test of 2024

Under Scott Robertson, his old Under 20 coach, he played in all 14 of the All Blacks' Tests in 2024, most of them off the bench. He scored against Argentina in Wellington, started against Fiji in San Diego and Australia in Wellington, and was named vice-captain for the 64-19 win over Japan in Yokohama, with Patrick Tuipulotu captain. He started the last Test of the year, a 29-11 win over Italy in Turin.

A collarbone, a new deal and Kobe

A broken collarbone in late April 2025 kept him out for about three months, the NZ Rugby Museum notes. He came back for the third Test against France in Hamilton in July and scored in a 29-19 win. Days later he re-signed with New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2028, with a sabbatical clause. Pulling on the jersey again, he said, had reminded him how special the journey was. Robertson called him "a true professional and a player who embodies the values of the All Blacks jersey".

He played four Tests in 2025, the last of them a start at second five in the 52-26 win over Wales in Cardiff, and then left for Japan. Kobe Steelers, coached by the former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie and captained by his old Chiefs team-mate Retallick, signed him on a one-year deal, making him the club's 13th All Black, a line that goes back to Alan Whetton in 1996. Savea returned to Kobe for the same season. Lienert-Brown said he was looking forward to Japanese culture, the people and the food.

Wikipedia credits him with 18 games and 25 points for Kobe. On 7 June 2026, in front of 50,451 at MUFG Stadium in Tokyo, Kobe beat Spears Tokyo-Bay 22-13 to win their first League One title. Kobe trailed 13-3 after 24 minutes, and in the second half breaks by Lienert-Brown and Savea helped put them in control.

Back in black under Rennie

Rennie left Kobe to coach the All Blacks, and Lienert-Brown came home too. In the 2026 Test season he came off the bench against Italy in Wellington and against Ireland at Eden Park, where he scored in a 40-21 win, then off the bench in the first three Tests in South Africa. He started at centre in the fourth, against the Springboks in Baltimore on 12 September, but left the field in the first half with a knee injury, which Rennie described as an MCL problem and not an ACL. He was called back as injury cover for the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney after Leroy Carter hurt his ankle, and was named in the 36-man squad for the northern tour, listed as returning from injury. He is not in the 23 for Scotland on 7 November.

Style and standing

Coaches have tended to describe him in two ways: versatile and unusual. Hansen picked him in 2016 because he could cover both midfield positions, and by then Lienert-Brown said he preferred No 13. Foster called him unorthodox. Robertson praised his composure and clarity in the midfield.

The numbers show how much the All Blacks have used him. His 94 Tests are level with Conrad Smith, and among All Blacks whose starts have come mainly at second five or centre, only Ma'a Nonu, with 103, has played more. He has started 48 Tests, 33 at centre and 15 at second five, and come off the bench 46 times: only TJ Perenara, Keven Mealamu and Ofa Tu'ungafasi have done that more often for the All Blacks. He has scored 17 Test tries.

Off the field

Lienert-Brown has spoken openly about living with anxiety, which he has said was at its worst between the ages of 18 and 21, in the early years of his professional career. He went public to help others. "It took me a long time to seek help," he said in 2024. He is an ambassador for Mind Set Engage, New Zealand Rugby's mental well-being programme.

Where he is now

Lienert-Brown, 31, is with the All Blacks on the northern tour. He is contracted to New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2028 and returns to the Chiefs for 2027, where his brother Daniel is one of the new signings at prop.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026. Chiefs games are from the Chiefs' 2027 squad release; Waikato, Kobe and Under 20 figures and Chiefs points are from Wikipedia, updated September 2026.