Folau Fakatava: a Ranfurly Shield try and the NPC's player of the year at 20, then the All Blacks

On 4 October 2020, Hawke's Bay went to Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin and took the Ranfurly Shield from Otago, 28-9. Their halfback that day was a 20-year-old from Nuku'alofa who scored the second of the Magpies' four tries, eleven minutes into the second half. Ten weeks later Folau Fakatava was named the best player in the country's provincial championship, and less than two years after that he was an All Black. This is the story of how a boy who first came to New Zealand on rugby trips as a Tongan schoolboy made it to the black jersey.

From Nuku'alofa to Hastings

Fakatava was born in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on 16 December 1999. According to his Wikipedia entry, which draws on a 2020 Stuff profile, he began playing rugby at high school in Tonga and travelled to New Zealand with Tongan age-group teams to play against Auckland schools, hoping that one of them would offer him a scholarship. After three years of trying, he won one, to Hastings Boys' High School in Hawke's Bay. He was also a fine touch player: at 15 he represented Tonga in touch rugby at the 2015 Pacific Games, Wikipedia records.

Mark Ozich, who would coach him at both school and provincial level, remembered the new arrival vividly. "The first day I walked in I thought, 'who's this kid?'" he told 1News in 2022. Ozich also recalled that the teenager often spent his lunchtimes in the changing room cutting team-mates' hair to earn some extra money, a skill that later had Stuff calling him "the kind-hearted hairdressing halfback".

Hastings Boys' High

Fakatava's First XV team-mates at Hastings Boys' High included several future Hawke's Bay players, among them Devan Flanders, Lincoln McClutchie, Danny Toala and Kianu Kereru-Symes. In 2016 the side won its first 18 games and reached the school's first national Top 4 final, at the Rugby Institute in Palmerston North on 4 September 2016, where Mount Albert Grammar won 14-13. At the end of that season he was named in the New Zealand Barbarians Schools team to play Australian Schools and Fiji Schools.

The 2017 team went one better. Hastings went through the season unbeaten and won the national title for the first time, although an injury in the semi-final meant Fakatava missed the final itself, Wikipedia notes. He played for the Hurricanes Under 18 side that year, and on 7 August 2017 the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union announced that four members of the Hastings First XV, Fakatava among them, had signed for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He played his club rugby for Hastings Rugby and Sports, the club the NZ Rugby Museum records him as being selected from.

The Magpies

His provincial debut came against Southland at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill on 19 August 2018, a 31-10 win for Hawke's Bay. He played eight games that first season, most of them as a replacement for the established halfback Brad Weber. "Webby was playing most of the games," Fakatava told 1News in 2023, looking back.

With Weber away with the All Blacks, Fakatava became the Magpies' first-choice halfback, and in 2020 he and his team had a season to remember. After the Shield win in Dunedin, Hawke's Bay beat Taranaki 59-23 in the Championship semi-final at McLean Park in Napier on 21 November 2020, with Fakatava scoring one of their eight tries. He and captain Ash Dixon left the field to a standing ovation, the NZ Herald reported. On 27 November 2020 at the same ground, in front of 7,500 people, Hawke's Bay beat Northland 36-24 to win the Championship and promotion to the Premiership.

At the New Zealand Rugby Awards on 17 December 2020, Fakatava received the Duane Monkley Medal as the best player in the Mitre 10 Cup. Ozich said his young halfback was obviously very talented, and the Herald credited part of his growth to Dixon's mentoring. The Shield stayed in Hawke's Bay for almost two years, through 14 successful defences, until Wellington won it at McLean Park on 17 September 2022.

The Magpies kept him busy in finals rugby. He came off the bench in the 2023 NPC final against Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth on 21 October 2023, which Taranaki won 22-19. In 2025 Hawke's Bay beat Taranaki 26-12 in a quarter-final at McLean Park on 11 October 2025, and Fakatava scored one of their three tries in the semi-final against Canterbury at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on 18 October 2025, which Canterbury won 43-19. Before the 2026 NPC he had played 65 games for Hawke's Bay and scored 75 points, according to Wikipedia, and he was named in the Magpies' wider squad again for the 2026 NPC.

The Highlanders

Fakatava's move south owed a lot to Dixon, who also captained the Highlanders. "You've got to trust me and you've got to sign this guy," Dixon recalled telling the then Highlanders coach, Aaron Mauger, in a 1News feature in 2022. The Highlanders gave the teenager a three-year contract after his first NPC season.

He made his Super Rugby debut against the Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 1 March 2019, coming on in the 75th minute, ESPN's match commentary shows. In Dunedin he learned alongside Aaron Smith, the All Blacks halfback, whom 1News described as the best possible mentor.

By 2021 he was starting some games ahead of Smith. On 2 April 2021 he started ahead of him against the Crusaders at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch, and the Highlanders won 33-12. That night he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and he was ruled out for the rest of the year. "He's been playing outstanding rugby for us this season," said head coach Tony Brown, adding that Fakatava "must have been in consideration for the All Blacks."

He came back in 2023, and on 26 May 2023 he settled a tight game in the last minute. The Highlanders trailed the Reds 30-28 at Forsyth Barr Stadium with seconds left in Aaron Smith's final home game. From an attacking ruck, Fakatava spotted a thin blindside and sniped over in the corner, and the conversion from the touchline made it 35-30. He told 1News his father, watching on television, "nearly broke the TV" celebrating. "He's instinctive," said Highlanders assistant coach Richard Whiffin. In the same interview Fakatava confirmed he had re-signed with the club, revealing that the Crusaders and Hurricanes had both wanted to sign him in 2020.

On 30 April 2025 the Highlanders extended his contract through the 2026 and 2027 seasons. "He is an X-factor player for sure," said head coach Jamie Joseph. Fakatava said of the squad: "We have an exciting, hard-working group here." By June 2026 he had played 72 games for the Highlanders and scored 60 points, Wikipedia records, and the club says he was instrumental in their 2026 season. He is Highlander number 278.

The first Moana Pasifika game

In between, Fakatava was part of a piece of Pacific rugby history. On 5 December 2020 he played for Moana Pasifika in the side's first ever match, against the Maori All Blacks at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, a team coached by Tana Umaga and made up of New Zealand-based players with Pacific heritage.

All Black number 1203

Fakatava became eligible for New Zealand on residency, and on 13 June 2022 Ian Foster named him as one of six new caps in the All Blacks squad for the series against Ireland, alongside the halfbacks Aaron Smith and Finlay Christie.

His debut came in his adopted home town. On 9 July 2022, in the second Test against Ireland at a sold-out Forsyth Barr Stadium, he came off the bench in the No 21 jersey to become All Black number 1203. "He will always back himself and express himself," Dixon said before the match. A week later, on 16 July 2022, he came off the bench again in the third Test at Sky Stadium in Wellington.

He was named to tour Japan and Europe that October, but on 20 October 2022 he ruptured the graft in his repaired knee while training, allblacks.com reported, and had to withdraw. "He's worked hard, he was excited about the tour," Foster said. Fakatava has two Tests for the All Blacks, both against Ireland, and no Test tries yet.

The All Blacks XV and the Lions

The All Blacks XV gave him a way back into black. On a two-match tour of Japan in 2023 under coach Leon MacDonald, he came off the bench against a Japan XV at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo on 8 July 2023 and finished the match with a solo try after the final hooter to seal a 38-6 win, then played again in the 41-27 win over Japan at EGAO Kenko Stadium in Kumamoto on 15 July 2023.

In 2025 he was picked to start at No 9 for the AUNZ Invitational XV, a combined Australian and New Zealand side coached by Les Kiss, against the touring British and Irish Lions at Adelaide Oval on 12 July 2025.

That October he was back in the All Blacks XV, aged 25, for Joseph's three-match tour of Europe. He came off the bench against England A at the Recreation Ground in Bath on 8 November 2025 and scored in the 76th minute of a 31-14 win. A week later, on 15 November 2025, he started against Uruguay at the Stade Raoul Barrière in Béziers and opened the scoring, scooping the ball from the base of a ruck and charging past the defence, allblacks.com reported. The All Blacks XV won 45-21 to finish the tour unbeaten. That gives him three tries and 15 points in four games for the All Blacks XV.

Style and standing

The Museum's profile describes a player with "a great intuitive feel for the game" who, though not a big man, relishes the physical side, especially on defence. Coaches and team-mates have described him in similar terms. Whiffin calls him instinctive. Joseph calls him an X-factor player. Brown, in 2021, called his form outstanding, and Dixon, who brought him south, said he would always back himself.

Where he is now

Fakatava is one of three halfbacks in the Highlanders' 2027 squad, with Adam Lennox and Dylan Pledger, and he is contracted through to the end of the 2027 season. The squad assembles on 26 November 2026, and the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season opens on 12 February 2027.

Career at a glance

Provincial and Super Rugby figures are from Wikipedia, updated to 16 June 2026. Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data. Awards: Duane Monkley Medal, 2020.