Brodie McAlister: a debut try to seal a 3-0 sweep of France, then the NPC title as Canterbury captain

The All Blacks spent the last minutes of their Test against France at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, on 19 July 2025 camped on the French line, narrowly ahead and chasing a 3-0 series sweep. Then Jordie Barrett broke through in front of the posts and passed back inside to the replacement hooker, a debutant. Brodie McAlister slid over, the All Blacks won 29-19, and the series was theirs. It was the high point of a career that had already taken him from Shirley Boys' High School to two Super Rugby title wins with the Crusaders, and in the 15 months that followed he won two NPC titles with Canterbury, the second as captain.

A Christchurch upbringing

McAlister was born in Christchurch on 17 June 1997. The NZ Rugby Museum's profile on stats.allblacks.com lists Kaiapoi as the club he was selected from, and the Otago Daily Times describes him as a product of the Kaiapoi Rugby Club and Shirley Boys' High School.

At Shirley Boys' he represented the school in the UC Championship competition, and in 2015 he was selected for the New Zealand Schools squad. From school he went into the Crusaders Academy, the path taken by many Crusaders before him.

RUGBE could not find a published account of his junior rugby before high school, or of any family links to the game. He shares a surname with the former All Black Luke McAlister, but RUGBE found no source linking the two.

Canterbury

McAlister made his debut for Canterbury in 2018, and by 2026 the Otago Daily Times was describing him as a cornerstone of the side.

The first title came in his eighth season. On 25 October 2025, Canterbury hosted Otago in the Bunnings NPC final at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch. Otago led 14-10 at half-time, but Canterbury had already struck once through their hooker: in the 25th minute they went to the lineout maul and McAlister scored. Canterbury scored three tries in ten minutes after the break and won 36-28 for their 15th national title and their first since 2017.

In July 2026 Canterbury named him captain for the defence of that title, in their first season at the new One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch. Head coach Alex Robertson said: "Brodie embodies everything we value in a Canterbury player." He added that McAlister "leads through his actions". McAlister said: "To captain Canterbury is incredibly special."

Less than three weeks later he had the Ranfurly Shield. On 9 August 2026 Canterbury challenged Otago at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, and in his 50th match for Canterbury McAlister scored twice, once from a first-half lineout drive and again from a lineout in the second half, as Canterbury won 19-15 to take the Shield for a record 18th time, 1News reported.

He scored four more tries in the playoffs. In the quarter-final against Waikato at One New Zealand Stadium on 11 October 2026, McAlister scored a first-half hat-trick, his tries coming in the 6th, 24th and 40th minutes, and Canterbury led 43-7 at half-time on the way to a 62-26 win. They beat Taranaki 38-28 in the semi-final at the same ground on 18 October 2026.

The final, against Northland at One New Zealand Stadium on Labour Day, 26 October 2026, was Northland's first. They led 21-10 at half-time. McAlister had scored Canterbury's second try on the half-hour, and early in the second half he was replaced by All Blacks hooker George Bell, who scored twice as Canterbury ran in five second-half tries to win 43-24. It was Canterbury's 16th NPC title and their second in a row. "I thought our bench was exceptional today to close out that game," the captain told RNZ. "It's a proud region Canterbury."

The Crusaders

McAlister's Super Rugby debut came off the bench for the Crusaders against the Blues in Christchurch on 25 May 2019, when Andrew Makalio started at hooker in place of Codie Taylor. The Crusaders won 19-11. The club's own account calls it a brief appearance; his full-time Super Rugby contract followed in 2020.

He played in two title-winning finals off the bench. On 8 May 2021 he came on in the Super Rugby Aotearoa final against the Chiefs at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch, which the Crusaders won 24-13. On 18 June 2022 he replaced Taylor in the 59th minute of the Super Rugby Pacific final against the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland, and the Crusaders won 21-7 in front of 45,000. Earlier, on 27 February 2021, he had scored a try in a 26-13 win over the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.

When he re-signed for the 2023 season, head coach Scott Robertson called him a "tireless worker" and said "his best as a Crusader is ahead of him". He played 41 games for the Crusaders, according to the Waikato Herald.

The All Blacks XV

When New Zealand Rugby launched the All Blacks XV in 2022, McAlister was one of eight Crusaders picked, the most from any Super Rugby team. He started at hooker in the side's first match, against Ireland A at the RDS in Dublin on 4 November 2022, and when Damian McKenzie kicked a penalty to the corner, the maul drove through and McAlister touched down for the second try, RTE reported. The All Blacks XV won 47-19.

He was picked again in 2023 and 2024. On 2 November 2024 he started against Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick, a 38-24 win, and within days he and first five-eighth Harry Plummer were called into the All Blacks camp as cover for the Test against Ireland, after Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett were ruled out under concussion protocols. He did not play in that Test.

In 2025 he toured with the All Blacks XV for a fourth time. He started against England A at the Recreation Ground in Bath on 8 November 2025, a 31-14 win, in a side captained by Dalton Papali'i, and the team finished its three-match European tour unbeaten.

The Chiefs

In November 2024 the Chiefs announced that McAlister would join them for 2025. He made his debut in the season opener against the Blues at Eden Park on 15 February 2025, starting between Ollie Norris and George Dyer, and the Chiefs won 25-14 in a rematch of the 2024 final.

Both of his Chiefs seasons ended in finals. He came off the bench in the 51st minute against the Crusaders at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on 21 June 2025, when the Crusaders won 16-12, and again in the 55th minute against the Hurricanes at Hnry Stadium in Wellington on 20 June 2026, when the Hurricanes took the title. By the end of 2026 he had played 23 games for the Chiefs.

All Black number 1229

On 23 June 2025 Scott Robertson, now the All Blacks head coach, named McAlister as one of five uncapped players in a 35-man squad to face France. "This is a particularly special day," Robertson said of the five, and the NZR announcement described McAlister's work rate and physicality at the set piece, and his ball-carrying in the tight.

He sat out the first two Tests, a 31-27 win at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 5 July 2025 and a 43-17 win at Sky Stadium in Wellington on 12 July 2025, and was named on the bench for the third, the first time the All Blacks had played France in Hamilton. He came off the bench to replace starting hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho, the sixth All Blacks debutant of 2025, and became All Black number 1229.

The try came late. Barrett's break and inside pass put McAlister over, and the 29-19 win completed a clean sweep of the three-Test series. "I'm pretty proud to put the black jersey on," McAlister said afterwards, RTE reported. He described the road there as "quite a journey", according to the South African site The Athlete.

He stayed in the squad for the Rugby Championship and won his second cap off the bench against South Africa at Sky Stadium in Wellington on 13 September 2025, when the Springboks won 43-10. For the northern tour that followed, the All Blacks named George Bell as their third hooker, and McAlister went north with the All Blacks XV instead. Under Dave Rennie, who took charge of the All Blacks in 2026, he spent the international season leading Canterbury, and he was not named in the squad for the November 2026 tour.

Style and standing

The Museum's write-up highlights the strength and consistency he brings to scrums and lineouts, and the ball-carrying and mobility that make him useful in open play. His tries for the All Blacks XV in Dublin in 2022, in the 2025 NPC final and in the 2026 Shield win all came from lineout drives and mauls.

What those who have coached him tend to mention is his work ethic: Scott Robertson's "tireless worker" line came in 2022, and Alex Robertson, appointing him captain in 2026, said he had "earned the respect of everyone around him".

Where he is now

McAlister is named in the Chiefs squad for 2027, announced on 28 October 2026, where the club welcomed back its "NPC winning captain". He is 29, and he turns 30 in June 2027, a World Cup year.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data. Other figures are from the NZ Rugby Museum, Wikipedia, the Chiefs, the Waikato Herald and 1News.