George Bell: the East Otago hooker who scored on debut for the Crusaders and the All Blacks

Eleven days ago, George Bell came off the bench in the NPC final in Christchurch with Canterbury trailing Northland, scored twice in five minutes to put his side in front. The next morning he was named in the All Blacks squad for the northern tour. It has been that kind of career for the 24-year-old hooker from East Otago: a try on his Super Rugby debut, a try on his Test debut, four Tests and four wins, and long stretches lost to injury in between. This is his story so far.

Shag Valley and Waikouaiti

Bell was born in Dunedin on 29 January 2002 and grew up on his family's sheep and beef station, Shag Valley Station, just outside Waihemo in East Otago. His first club was the Eastern Rugby Football Club in Waikouaiti, according to his Crusaders profile.

Rugby runs in the family. His older brother, Henry Bell, is also a hooker; he has played for Otago since 2020, spent the 2023 season with the Utah Warriors in Major League Rugby and joined the Highlanders in 2024. Both brothers went to John McGlashan College in Dunedin, where George was a boarder. The All Blacks' own profile notes that he excelled there as an age-grade cricketer.

Growing up in Otago also shaped his loyalties. "I grew up disliking the Crusaders quite a bit to be honest," he admitted to the Crusaders website in 2025. That changed once he moved north.

Lincoln and the Crusaders Academy

After school Bell went to Lincoln University, near Christchurch, and played his club rugby for the university side. It was there that Crusaders forwards coach Jase Ryan first spoke to him about a future in the game. "Jase had a massive impact on me," Bell said in 2022, describing Ryan as the man who "planted the seed".

By 2022 he was in the Crusaders Academy, and in the same year he made his debut for New Zealand Under 20, scoring five tries in three games, according to the Crusaders.

Super Rugby before NPC

On 7 May 2022 Bell made his Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders against the Western Force in Perth, before he had played a single game of provincial rugby. He scored a try in a 53-13 win, and his flatmate Seb Calder made his debut on the same night. "I was pretty nervous before heading out there," Bell recalled, calling the try "the cherry on top". He put the unusual order of things down partly to circumstance: with Covid-19 restrictions limiting how many players could be brought into the team environment, "it probably worked in my favour".

His first NPC season with Canterbury followed, and it ended in the final against Wellington in Christchurch on 22 October 2022. Bell was on the bench and had a brief spell on the field around half-time as Wellington won 26-18. His year was good enough for the New Zealand Rugby Almanack to name him among its most promising players of 2022, an honour his All Blacks profile records.

Five days after that final, the Crusaders announced they had signed him to a three-year contract, making him one of the youngest players on their 2023 roster. He called it a "pinch yourself moment". The same announcement carried less welcome news: he needed surgery on an injured foot, which ruled him out of the All Blacks XV tour of the northern hemisphere that November.

A lost year

The foot problem became a lost season. In March 2023 the Crusaders announced that Bell, who had been nearing a return from what they called "a significant toe injury", had fractured his ankle at training. He had surgery and was ruled out until after the Super Rugby season. The Crusaders' academy profile sums 2023 up simply: injury kept him sidelined.

The call

Bell came back in 2024, and Scott Robertson, in his first year as All Blacks coach, picked him. When the squad was named on 24 June 2024, with Samisoni Taukei'aho injured, Bell was one of five uncapped players in it, alongside Pasilio Tosi, Cortez Ratima, Billy Proctor and Wallace Sititi.

His debut came against Fiji at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on 20 July 2024 (New Zealand time). He replaced Asafo Aumua at hooker and, near the end, after Sititi had carried hard to set it up, drove over for the last try of the game. The All Blacks won 47-5, and Proctor also scored on debut. Bell had now scored on debut at Super Rugby and Test level.

He went on the northern tour that year and came off the bench against Japan in Yokohama, a 64-19 win, and briefly against Ireland in Dublin, where the All Blacks won 23-13.

2025: a title and a return

A foot injury kept Bell out of the first half of the 2025 Super Rugby season. He recovered earlier than expected, and on 16 May 2025 came off the bench against the Waratahs in Sydney. "It's brilliant to have George back," Crusaders coach Rob Penney said.

Five weeks later he was part of a title-winning side. In the Super Rugby Pacific final at Apollo Projects Stadium on 21 June 2025, Bell replaced Codie Taylor in the 64th minute as the Crusaders held on to beat the Chiefs 16-12. In July he re-signed with the Crusaders and New Zealand Rugby until 2028. "First and foremost, I just love this team," he said.

He missed the first two All Blacks squads of 2025, but his NPC form for Canterbury, which included starts in the quarter-final and semi-final, earned him a call-up for the northern tour in place of Brodie McAlister. The timing meant he missed Canterbury's 36-28 final win over Otago. On 22 November 2025 he won his fourth Test cap off the bench in Cardiff, where the All Blacks beat Wales 52-26.

2026: setback and comeback

Dave Rennie named Bell as the fourth hooker in his 44-man squad for the South Africa tour in July 2026, but a calf strain at training in Cape Town sent him home before a game was played. Bradley Slater flew in to replace him. "We are all gutted for George," Rennie said, adding that Bell had "had a frustrating past few months with injury".

Rennie said he hoped to see Bell come back through the NPC, and he did. In October he was called in as injury cover for the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney, though he did not play. Then came the NPC final against Northland at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch on 26 October 2026. Canterbury were down 21-10 at half-time. Bell came on for captain Brodie McAlister early in the second half, scored from a rolling maul to bring Canterbury within a score, and five minutes later found a gap to the right of the posts to give them the lead. Canterbury pulled away to win 43-24 and keep their title.

The All Blacks touring squad was named the next day, and Bell was in it. "They have all shown fantastic form during the NPC," Rennie said of Bell and the other players brought back in.

Style and standing

The Museum's profile describes Bell as "a dynamic young hooker"; it lists him at 183cm and 107kg. Codie Taylor, his Crusaders and All Blacks team-mate, has been a mentor to him. He has scored in his first game for the Crusaders, his first Test and, twice, in an NPC final. By August 2026 he had made 15 appearances for the Crusaders, the ODT reported; injury cost him the whole of the 2023 Super Rugby season and much of 2025.

Where he is now

Bell is one of three hookers in the All Blacks' 36-man squad for the northern tour, with Taylor and Aumua. He is not in the match-day 23 for the Test against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday morning NZ time, with Wales in Cardiff, England at Twickenham and the Nations Championship finals weekend in London still to come. He is contracted to the Crusaders and New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2028, and One New Zealand Stadium, where he scored twice in the NPC final, is now the Crusaders' home.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026.