Bryn Hall: six seasons at the Crusaders, six titles and a try in the 2022 final

Six seasons, six titles. Between 2017 and 2022 Bryn Hall won a Super Rugby championship in every year he spent with the Crusaders, started four finals and scored the try that helped put his side 13-0 up at half-time of the 2022 final at Eden Park. He then played four seasons in Japan, reaching two League One finals with Kubota Spears, and came home in 2026 to become only the ninth player to reach 100 games for North Harbour. For 2027 the Auckland halfback, 34, joins the Super Rugby champions, the Hurricanes.

Auckland and St Peter's

Bryn Desmond Hall was born in Auckland on 3 February 1992 and grew up in the city. He is of Māori descent, and his iwi is Ngāti Ranginui, according to his Hurricanes profile.

He went to St Peter's College in Auckland, where he played in the First XV and captained it in his final year, 2010. When the Crusaders re-signed him in 2017 they listed the teams he had led, from that school side to the New Zealand Under 20s and North Harbour. RUGBE could not find a published account of his junior club rugby before secondary school.

New Zealand Schools and the Under 20s

Hall was named in the 2010 New Zealand Schools squad, and he scored the deciding try of its match against Australian Schools. At Littlebourne, Otago Boys' High School's ground in Dunedin, on 6 October 2010, he came off the bench and, with injuries scattering the backline, found himself on the wing. New Zealand had led 17-3 early in the second half, but Australia came back to 23-21 with ten minutes left. The Otago Daily Times described what came next: a messy scrum, a couple of skip passes, and the replacement halfback diving over out wide. His captain, TJ Perenara, converted for a 30-21 win, and New Zealand finished the year unbeaten. James Lowe scored New Zealand's other second-half try.

Two years later Hall co-captained the New Zealand Under 20 side with Steve Luatua at the IRB Junior World Championship in Cape Town. He played four games. New Zealand beat Wales 30-6 in the semi-final at Newlands on 17 June 2012, but South Africa won the final at the same ground on 22 June 2012, 22-16, ending New Zealand's run of four straight titles.

North Harbour

Hall played his club rugby for Northcote on Auckland's North Shore, and he broke into the North Harbour side in the 2012 ITM Cup aged 20. In nine games that first season he scored 35 points, including three tries, in a team that won only once. By 2013 he was the first-choice halfback and played every game. In 2015 he was named captain and again was ever-present.

The arrival of the experienced Chris Smylie in 2016 gave him competition for the first time in years, and he answered it by playing all 12 of Harbour's matches. That season ended with promotion. Harbour won 40-37 away to Wellington in the Championship semi-final in Wellington on 22 October 2016, then beat Otago 17-14 in the final in Dunedin on 28 October 2016, Bryn Gatland landing a drop goal in the 79th minute. The Hurricanes later described Hall as having helped guide the province to that Mitre 10 Cup Championship title.

The Blues

His performances in a Harbour side that finished bottom of the Championship in 2012 earned him a place in the Blues squad for 2013. He made his Super Rugby debut on 1 March 2013 against the Crusaders at Eden Park, coming on in the 63rd minute of a 34-15 win. It was his only game of the year: a broken jaw and glandular fever left him third in line behind All Black Piri Weepu and Jamison Gibson-Park.

In 2014 he played 16 games, 11 as a starter, scored two tries and by the end of the season had taken the No 9 jersey from Weepu. A broken foot suffered in club rugby then cost him the whole of the 2015 season. He came back in 2016 as new coach Tana Umaga's first choice, playing all 15 of the Blues' games and scoring once. His Blues record was 32 games and three tries.

Six seasons, six titles

In June 2016 the Crusaders signed Hall for 2017, to fill the gap left by the departing Andy Ellis and compete with Mitchell Drummond for the halfback spot. The two shared the jersey, and Hall credited the rivalry for bringing out the best in both of them.

His first season began with the Lions. On 10 June 2017 he started at halfback against the British and Irish Lions in Christchurch, a 12-3 loss. A week later, on 17 June 2017, he made his debut for the Māori All Blacks, off the bench against the same Lions in Rotorua. Back in red and black, he played 17 games and scored four tries in 2017, including the opening try of the semi-final against the Chiefs on 29 July 2017, a 27-13 win in Christchurch. A week later, on 5 August 2017, he started the final against the Lions in Johannesburg, and the Crusaders won 25-17 for a record eighth title.

When he re-signed for 2018, head coach Scott Robertson said: "He has a really strong passing game and is an incredible competitor." The titles kept coming. Hall started the 2018 final against the Lions in Christchurch on 4 August 2018, a 37-18 win, and the 2019 final against the Jaguares in Christchurch on 6 July 2019, won 19-3. Robertson, re-signing him again, praised "a cool head under pressure, and genuine grit in those close contests".

In 2020 the Crusaders won Super Rugby Aotearoa, the New Zealand-only competition played in 2020 and 2021. On 21 March 2021 Hall led the team out at Eden Park for his 100th Super Rugby game, in front of family and friends in his home city, and the Crusaders beat the Blues 43-27. He came off the bench in the 2021 Aotearoa final against the Chiefs in Christchurch on 8 May 2021, won 24-13 for a fifth straight title.

In the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific final against the Blues at Eden Park on 18 June 2022, played in persistent drizzle before 45,000 people, Hall started at halfback and scored in the 39th minute. Richie Mo'unga's conversion made it 13-0 at the break, and the Crusaders won 21-7. It was Hall's last game for the club. The Crusaders' farewell counted 93 appearances and 85 points, without giving a try total, and the Hurricanes put his Super Rugby total, Blues and Crusaders combined, at 123 games.

Māori All Blacks, Barbarians and a World XV

Hall played eight times for the Māori All Blacks. In late 2018 he was called into the wider All Blacks squad for the Test against Japan in Tokyo on 3 November 2018, which the All Blacks won 69-31, but he did not get on the field. He joined the Māori side in South America instead, coming off the bench in a 35-3 win over Brazil in São Paulo on 10 November 2018, then scoring twice in the first 32 minutes of a 73-0 win over Chile in Las Condes, Santiago, on 17 November 2018. Those are his only two tries for the Māori All Blacks.

He started against Moana Pasifika in Hamilton on 5 December 2020, a 28-21 win, and played both games against Samoa in 2021: as the starting halfback in a 35-10 win in Wellington on 26 June 2021 and off the bench in a 38-21 win in Auckland on 3 July 2021.

In November 2019 the Barbarians invited him on their autumn tour, and he played twice. On 30 November 2019, in Cardiff, he started at halfback alongside Springbok Curwin Bosch, with Warren Gatland, whose 12 years as Wales coach had ended at the 2019 World Cup, coaching the Barbarians against his old side. Wales won 43-33. On 28 May 2023 he was back at Twickenham for a World XV coached by Steve Hansen against Eddie Jones's Barbarians. Fourteen tries were scored, one of them by Hall in the second half, but the Barbarians won 48-42.

He has never played a Test for any country.

Japan

Hall left the Crusaders for Japan Rugby League One and the Shizuoka Blue Revs, where he played 27 League One games over two seasons and scored four tries. Between those seasons he returned to North Harbour for the 2024 NPC, playing ten games and scoring two tries.

In September 2024 Kubota Spears, the 2023 League One champions coached by Frans Ludeke, signed him. "I can't wait to play in front of the passionate Japanese fans," he said, as reported by RugbyJP. Mostly used from the bench, he played 26 League One games for the club and scored one try, and Kubota reached the final in both of his seasons.

The first, in Tokyo on 1 June 2025, went to Toshiba Brave Lupus, 18-13, with his old Crusaders team-mate Mo'unga steering them to a second straight title. In 2026 Kubota knocked Toshiba out, 26-3 in the quarter-final in Tokyo on 24 May 2026, then beat the Saitama Wild Knights 26-24 in the semi-final in Tokyo on 31 May 2026. In the final on 7 June 2026 at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, in front of more than 50,000 people, Hall came on in the 69th minute, but the Kobe Steelers won 22-13.

Home to Harbour, and a century

Hall came home for the 2026 NPC, his 15th campaign with North Harbour, sitting on 99 appearances. He brought up 100 in the first round, against Tasman in Nelson on 31 July 2026, though Tasman won 31-29. He was only the ninth player in the union's history to reach the mark.

Harbour won six of their ten round-robin games and hosted a quarter-final against Taranaki at North Harbour Stadium in Albany on 10 October 2026, losing 50-31. Hall played nine games in the campaign, by RugbyPass's count, without scoring a try.

His form caught the eye of the champions. "His kicking and distribution and all-round game has been super solid in the NPC," Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw said.

Style and standing

Coaches who have worked with Hall describe the same qualities. Robertson called him "a dynamic player" who brought energy to the group on the field and at training, and said that even as a first-year Crusader he contributed leadership on and off the field. He added that Hall "brings an edge to the team". Laidlaw's interest goes back further than 2026: when the signing was confirmed he said the Hurricanes had first looked at Hall "a couple of years ago", before he went back to Japan.

Captaincy has followed him through his career, from the St Peter's First XV in 2010 to the New Zealand Under 20s in 2012 and North Harbour in 2015.

Off the field

Hall is also a broadcaster. RugbyJP describes him as a regular on the Aotearoa Rugby Podcast, and he has been a guest on Martin Devlin's DSPN, talking about rugby in Japan and his old Crusaders team-mates.

Where he is now

The Hurricanes confirmed Hall's signing on 1 October 2026 and named him in their 2027 squad on 28 October 2026, one of three halfbacks with All Black Cam Roigard and Jordi Viljoen. He said he "loved the way the club played" in 2026, with its "attacking brand of footy", and Laidlaw said Hall would compete for a starting role and pass his experience on to the club's younger halfbacks. The 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season starts on 12 February 2027.

Career at a glance

Super Rugby total: 123 appearances (Hurricanes figure). Blues figures from Wikipedia; Crusaders figures from the club's 2022 farewell; North Harbour appearance figures from North Harbour's 2026 squad announcement and RugbyPass statistics; Japan figures from RugbyJP and RugbyPass statistics.