Fabian Holland: the Dutch kid who met the All Blacks Sevens at 11 and became an All Black

In 2014 the All Blacks Sevens held a training camp at the rugby club in Castricum, a seaside village outside Amsterdam. It was Fabian Holland's club, and the 11-year-old, who already had posters of the All Blacks on his bedroom wall, met the sevens captain DJ Forbes and a young Akira Ioane. Eleven years later, in Dunedin, Holland became the first Dutch-born All Black, and by the end of 2025 he was World Rugby's Breakthrough Player of the Year.

A Dutch rugby kid

Fabian Holland was born in Alkmaar, in the Netherlands, on 9 October 2002, and grew up in the nearby village of Akersloot. He was hooked on rugby at five after watching the All Blacks on YouTube, Reuters reported, and started playing at the Castricum club. He soon had his father downloading Super Rugby matches for him to watch every night.

The 2014 sevens camp turned an obsession into a plan. The All Blacks coach Scott Robertson later remarked on how early Holland made up his mind. "Pretty single-minded from a 14-year-old to make that call," Robertson said in 2025, "to come over and represent another country in a game he loves."

Christchurch Boys' High School

In early 2019, aged 16, Holland flew to New Zealand on his own to board at Christchurch Boys' High School, the school of Dan Carter and Brodie Retallick. It was meant to be a six-month stay to develop his game. It stretched to two years. He played in the First XV, and in 2020 he was picked for the New Zealand Barbarians Under 18 side and for New Zealand Schools.

Dunedin

In 2021 he moved south to Dunedin to chase a professional career. He joined the Highlanders' under 20 squad and their development side, the Bravehearts, on a high performance contract, and began playing club rugby for Dunedin when he was available. That year he played two games for New Zealand Under 20 and made his NPC debut for Otago, in the same season as his team-mate Christian Lio-Willie, who later recalled that they debuted together.

In 2022, aged 19, he played his first Super Rugby game for the Highlanders, and that June he signed a three-year professional contract with them. Wikipedia credits him with 34 games for the Highlanders and 30 for Otago. He played 13 Highlanders games in 2024 and every one of their games in 2025, when the club named him both its Forward of the Year and its Defender of the Year. In May 2025 he re-signed until the end of 2028. "Being a Highlander means everything to me," he said, calling it "a little Dutch kid's dream that has become a reality". His coach Jamie Joseph said: "Fabian has come a long way in a short amount of time."

Man of the match at Thomond Park

At the end of 2024 he toured with the All Blacks XV. On 2 November at Thomond Park in Limerick they beat Munster 38-24, and Holland was named man of the match. He made 12 tackles, helped the side win 11 of their 12 lineouts and had a hand in a try for Chay Fihaki. He also played for the Barbarians against Fiji, alongside Sam Whitelock.

The first Dutch All Black

Robertson named him to start his Test debut against France at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 5 July 2025, his home ground, beside the captain Scott Barrett, with Tupou Vaa'i moving to blindside flanker to make room. "It's a great story," Robertson said. Holland played the full 80 minutes of a 31-27 win. Standing for the anthem next to his Highlanders team-mate Ethan de Groot and seeing his family in the stands, he told 1News, "that was probably when it really hit me". His rise even came up when the Dutch and New Zealand prime ministers met at a NATO gathering, 1News reported.

He started all three Tests against France and both in Argentina, came off the bench in both home Tests against the Springboks, and started the two Bledisloe Cup Tests, at Eden Park and in Perth, where he took the place of the injured Vaa'i. On the northern tour he started against Ireland in Chicago, Scotland at Murrayfield and Wales in Cardiff, missing only the loss to England at Twickenham through illness. In his first season he played 12 Tests, ten of them as a starter, all at lock.

Breakthrough Player of the Year

On 22 November 2025 World Rugby named him its Men's 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year, ahead of South Africa's Ethan Hooker, England's Henry Pollock and Australia's Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i. In World Rugby's account he played down his lineout work, describing himself as "just the middle part" who only "has to jump and catch the ball". He was the sixth All Black to win the award, World Rugby said, and only the second lock after England's Maro Itoje in 2016. Less than three weeks later he was one of four finalists for All Blacks Player of the Year at the New Zealand Rugby Awards, with Cam Roigard, Ardie Savea and Quinn Tupaea. Savea won it.

A shoulder, and a long way back

His 2026 Super Rugby season was over before it started. In a pre-season game against Moana Pasifika in Queenstown in February he dislocated his shoulder, and he had surgery the following week. He missed every Highlanders game and Dave Rennie's three July Tests as All Blacks coach.

He came back on a winter Friday in Alexandra, starting for Otago against the Heartland side Mid Canterbury in a Ranfurly Shield defence and playing 40 minutes of a 78-14 win, five months after the injury. Rennie had said beforehand that it would be "nice for him to get some game time" for Otago. Two weeks later he was in South Africa, playing against the Stormers and the Bulls, and on 22 August at Ellis Park he scored his first Test try in a 33-16 win over the Springboks. He started the second Test in Cape Town, came off the bench in the third, at FNB Stadium, and was not in the 23 for the fourth in Baltimore.

He was left out for the first Bledisloe Cup Test at Eden Park, but returned beside Barrett for the second in Sydney, a 43-21 win. Forwards coach Jason Ryan said afterwards that Holland and Barrett had made the most carries, and probably the most tackles, of the tight five. "We thought he was outstanding," Ryan said, adding that Holland was still regaining confidence after so long out and was "right where he needs to be" for the northern tour.

Style and standing

The words that come up most are energy and appetite. Joseph described a player who is "hungry for knowledge" and wants to help, and Reuters described him as a cult hero at the Highlanders before he had played a Test. At 2.04m and 124kg, he had become the All Blacks' go-to player at the lineout within months of his debut, according to World Rugby, even if he insists his job is simply to jump and catch.

Honours: World Rugby Men's 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year 2025; Highlanders Forward of the Year and Defender of the Year 2025; All Blacks XV man of the match against Munster, 2024.

Where he is now

Holland, 24, has 16 Tests. Rennie has named him at lock, with Scott Barrett, to face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday 7 November (3.10am Sunday NZ time), a year after he started there in a 25-17 win. He is in the Highlanders' squad for 2027, his first Super Rugby season since 2025, and his contract with the club runs to the end of 2028.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026. Otago and Highlanders figures are from Wikipedia, updated September 2026.