Brett Cameron: an All Black after two NPC seasons, then the Ranfurly Shield and a Hurricanes title

In October 2018 a 22-year-old first five-eighth from Whanganui was preparing for an NPC semi-final with Canterbury when the All Blacks selectors added his name to the squad for a Test in Japan. "This came completely out of the blue," Brett Cameron told the Whanganui Chronicle. A few weeks later, on 3 November 2018, he came off the bench at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo to become All Black number 1181, in only his second season of provincial rugby. His career since has taken him through Ranfurly Shield and title-winning sides in Canterbury, a season in Japan, home to Manawatu and, in 2026, a Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes.

A Whanganui all-rounder

Cameron was born in Whanganui on 4 October 1996. Before secondary school he played junior rugby for the Marist club in the city, the Whanganui Chronicle reported, and then went to Cullinane College, where he played in the First XV until 2014.

He was a gifted all-round sportsman. The NZ Rugby Museum's profile on stats.allblacks.com records that he played rugby for Whanganui at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level, that he was picked for the New Zealand Under 17 cricket team in 2013 after two years captaining Central Districts at age-group level, and that in 2014 he was the college's touch and athletics captain as well as a member of its First XV and First XI. The Chronicle added that one of his team-mates in that Central Districts under-17 cricket side was Jordie Barrett, and that he played his club cricket for Marist as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Rugby won. In 2014 he was plucked from Cullinane to join the first New Zealand Schools training squad, and he attended a Hurricanes Under 18 camp. Then he moved south to study at Lincoln University in Canterbury, and Lincoln University is the club the Museum records him as being selected from for the All Blacks.

Canterbury

Cameron's first points for Canterbury came in the opening round of the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup, a 39-0 win over Tasman at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on 18 August 2017. Two weeks later, on 1 September 2017, he scored a try, six conversions and two penalties, 23 points, in a 53-10 win over Hawke's Bay at McLean Park in Napier, and on 8 September 2017 he landed five conversions from five as Canterbury defended the Ranfurly Shield 78-20 against Southland at Rugby League Park in Christchurch. The Museum says he "came of age" that season. He started at first five in the semi-final against North Harbour at the same ground on 21 October 2017 and kicked three conversions and three penalties, 15 points in a 35-24 win. A week later, on 28 October 2017, he came off the bench late in the final as Canterbury beat Tasman 35-13 to win the Mitre 10 Cup. That year he was also picked for the New Zealand Universities tour of Japan.

In 2018 he was Canterbury's first-choice first five and the second-highest points scorer in the whole competition, with 121 points from a try, 37 conversions and 14 penalties, behind only Waikato's Fletcher Smith. He kicked 11 points in a 21-16 semi-final win over Tasman at Trafalgar Park on 19 October 2018, and 16 more in the final against Auckland at Eden Park on 27 October 2018, which Auckland won 40-33 after extra time.

The Ranfurly Shield came a year later. On 5 October 2019 Canterbury went to Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin and took the Shield from Otago, 35-25, with Cameron kicking three conversions and three penalties for another 15 points. Canterbury defended it against North Harbour in Christchurch eight days later. By the end of 2020 he had played 44 games for Canterbury and scored 354 points, Wikipedia records.

All Black number 1181

The call-up came in a season when Cameron was not yet a regular in Super Rugby. On 15 October 2018 the selectors named a wider squad of 19 players to join the main 32-man squad in Japan after the Bledisloe Cup, and Cameron was the only first five among them. He was the first player from Whanganui to be picked for the All Blacks since Waisake Naholo, the Chronicle noted.

In Tokyo he was one of eight new caps in the match-day 23, alongside players including George Bridge, Finlay Christie, Dalton Papali'i and Tyrel Lomax, the NZ Herald later recorded, and Mitchell Drummond also debuted that night. Cameron came on for a ten-minute cameo at the end of a 69-31 win. He called it "a bit of a childhood dream to actually be able to take the field" when he looked back in 2022. It remains his only Test: one cap, no Test tries yet, and a 100 per cent winning record.

The Crusaders

Cameron's Super Rugby career began at the Crusaders, where he was promoted to the squad in 2018 and given a full contract in 2019, according to the Hurricanes' profile of him. He played five matches in 2019 as the Crusaders won their third Super Rugby title in a row, and the Hurricanes record that he won two Super Rugby titles and two Super Rugby Aotearoa titles in his time with the club between 2018 and 2021.

Game time was hard to come by behind Richie Mo'unga. The Herald counted 13 Crusaders games across his four seasons, and Wikipedia credits him with 19 points. At the end of 2021 he left Christchurch.

Manawatu and Japan

He went home. Cameron joined the Manawatu Turbos for the 2021 NPC, close to Whanganui, and told the Herald he had not realised how much he would enjoy it, including "having family at games". He made an immediate impression: in the opening round, against Counties Manukau at Arena Manawatu in Palmerston North on 6 August 2021, he scored a try, three conversions and six penalties, 29 points in a 39-21 win.

Before that NPC began he had already agreed a one-year deal with the Kamaishi Seawaves in Japan, for the first season of Japan Rugby League One in 2022. He played 11 games and scored 50 points there, according to Wikipedia, and called it "a good refresher". He returned to Manawatu for the 2022 NPC and has been their first five since, with 162 points from his first 16 games for the province.

The Hurricanes

The Hurricanes signed him on a two-year deal from 2023, and he made his debut in the No 10 jersey against the Blues at Sky Stadium in Wellington on 11 March 2023. "He's got some really good skills," said the then Hurricanes coach, Jason Holland, at the team naming.

Two serious knee injuries have shaped the years since. Late in 2024 he hurt one knee badly and spent much of the 2025 season recovering, AFP reported, but by May 2025 he was back in the Hurricanes' match-day squad. Jordie Barrett, his old cricket team-mate and now a Hurricanes team-mate, later said: "He's very important to our squad." Barrett added that the team had seen the difference Cameron made when he came back late in 2025.

Then, on 20 February 2026, in the Hurricanes' opening game of the season against Moana Pasifika at Sky Stadium in Wellington, Cameron was stretchered off with a serious injury to his other knee. The Hurricanes won 52-10, and he missed the rest of the season. They went on to win the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific title, beating the Chiefs in the final, and the club counts him as part of that title-winning squad.

On 16 October 2026 the Hurricanes re-signed him for 2027, his fifth season with the club. By then he had scored 149 points in 25 matches for the Hurricanes. "I couldn't be happier to be back at the Hurricanes," Cameron said. "I've been right at home with this team since I started in 2023." Head coach Clark Laidlaw called him "a genuine inspiration" for the way he had handled both injuries, and added: "We're just delighted to have him here."

The All Blacks XV

Between his Super Rugby seasons he pulled on a black jersey again. In 2023 he played for the All Blacks XV against a Japan XV at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo on 8 July 2023, a 38-6 win, on a tour coached by Leon MacDonald.

Where he is now

Cameron is one of three first fives in the Hurricanes' 2027 squad, with Ruben Love and Harry Godfrey, and Laidlaw expects those three and Callum Harkin to cover first five and fullback between them. The Hurricanes said the club hoped he would be ready for the start of the 2027 season, which opens on 12 February 2027, as they defend their title.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data. Hurricanes figures are from the club, to 16 October 2026; other club and provincial figures are from Wikipedia, which was last updated for them in July 2023.