Henry Bell: started Otago's first Ranfurly Shield win over Canterbury in 77 years

On 20 September 2025 in Christchurch, two brothers wore the No 2 jersey for opposite sides in a Ranfurly Shield match. Canterbury's hooker was George Bell, an All Black. Otago's was his older brother, Henry Bell. George scored a try, but Otago won 38-36 and took the Shield, their first Shield win over Canterbury in 77 years. Henry, a Dunedin club hooker who went to America to play professionally before the Highlanders gave him his chance, is in the Highlanders' squad for 2027.

East Otago and John McGlashan

Henry Bell was born on 22 August 1999 and grew up in East Otago, according to his Highlanders profile. He went to John McGlashan College in Dunedin, where he was head boy and played in the First XV, according to Wikipedia. His younger brother George, born in 2002, followed him to the same school.

RUGBE could not find a published account of his junior rugby before secondary school. As an adult he has played his club rugby for Kaikorai in Dunedin, which the Highlanders list as his home club.

Otago

Bell made his debut for Otago in 2020, according to the Highlanders, and played a handful of games in his first two seasons. His breakthrough came in 2022, when he played ten NPC games and scored four tries. The first came in the 11th minute of a 37-32 win over Southland in Invercargill on 21 August 2022. On 11 September 2022 he scored twice against Wellington at Wellington Regional Stadium, one of them deep in first-half stoppage time, although Wellington won 32-26. He added another in a 54-35 win over Manawatū in Palmerston North on 25 September 2022.

A week later the brothers met in an NPC match. Otago played Canterbury in Dunedin on 1 October 2022, with Henry, 23, starting at hooker and George, 20, coming off the Canterbury bench. With ten minutes to go Henry carried the ball straight into his brother, knocked him over and kept running, as the website Rugby Onslaught described it. Canterbury won 27-21, so George had the result and Henry the moment.

America

For the 2023 season Bell went to the United States to play for the Utah Warriors in Major League Rugby, coached by Greg Cooper. He played nine games and scored two tries, by RugbyPass's count. The first came in the 36th minute of a 14-10 win away to the Chicago Hounds near Chicago on 5 March 2023. The second came five minutes into a 43-33 win over Rugby New York in Mount Vernon, New York, on 18 June 2023, by which time Utah had been knocked out of play-off contention.

He came home for the 2023 NPC and played ten more games for Otago.

The Highlanders

The Highlanders signed him for 2024. Their announcement noted his "sojourn in America" and that he was the older brother of Crusaders hooker George Bell.

He was one of five debutants in the first team of the season, chosen at hooker ahead of Southland's Jack Taylor, and the club said his agility and speed around the field had won him the spot. On 24 February 2024 he packed down between props Daniel Lienert-Brown and Saula Ma'u against Moana Pasifika in Dunedin, and the Highlanders won 35-21. Timoci Tavatavanawai and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens debuted in the same game. Bell became Highlander No 342.

"Awesome to represent my home province which I've grown up watching and supporting," he said in his Highlanders profile.

He played 15 games in that first season, the most of his Super Rugby career, and started the quarter-final against the Brumbies in Canberra on 8 June 2024, which the Brumbies won 32-16. He played four games in 2025 and six in 2026, taking him to 25 Super Rugby games. He has not yet scored a Super Rugby try.

The Shield

Bell scored his only try of the 2025 NPC just before half-time against Tasman in Nelson on 30 August 2025, a 31-27 defeat. Three weeks later came the Shield challenge.

Canterbury held the Ranfurly Shield, and Otago went to Christchurch to challenge for it on 20 September 2025. Coach Mark Brown named Bell to start at hooker, with the former All Black Liam Coltman on the bench. On the other side, George started at hooker for Canterbury.

The home side were on top early. George scored off the back of a lineout maul after about a quarter of an hour, and Canterbury led 24-14 at half-time. Otago kept coming. Flanker Lucas Casey scored twice in the second half, the second a solo run from 45 metres out, and with Otago still behind, their lineout maul carried Coltman over in the 66th minute. Cameron Millar's conversion put Otago ahead 38-36, and they held on. Provincial Rugby's report noted that Otago had gone 77 years without a Shield win over Canterbury.

Otago defended the Shield a week later, beating North Harbour 41-26 in Dunedin on 27 September 2025 with Bell again starting at hooker, and went on to reach the NPC final, where Canterbury beat them 36-28 in Christchurch on 25 October 2025. Otago kept the Shield through the summer until Canterbury won it back, 19-15, in Dunedin on 9 August 2026.

Five tries in 2026

The 2026 NPC was Bell's best for scoring. He played 11 games and scored five tries, by RugbyPass's count, which matches the match records on Wikipedia. He scored in a 29-27 win over Manawatū in Palmerston North on 15 August 2026, then twice in the first 24 minutes of a 43-38 win over Waikato in Dunedin on 29 August 2026. He scored again in a 35-24 loss to Hawke's Bay in Napier on 4 September 2026.

Otago finished the round robin with seven wins and met Hawke's Bay again in the quarter-final in Dunedin on 10 October 2026. Bell scored early in the second half of a 50-14 win. Otago's season ended in the semi-final, a 38-19 loss to Northland in Whangārei on 16 October 2026.

That took him to 12 NPC tries: four in 2022, two in 2024, one in 2025 and five in 2026.

The Bell brothers

Henry and George Bell were born two and a half years apart, grew up in the same part of East Otago, went to the same school and play the same position. George went north to study at Lincoln University and came through the Crusaders Academy, and he has played four Tests for the All Blacks, scoring one Test try. The Crusaders' profile of George notes that his older brother debuted for the Highlanders in 2024. In the Shield match in Christchurch on 20 September 2025 both brothers started, and Henry's side won.

Style and standing

The Highlanders picked Bell for his first start on the strength of his pre-season, and pointed to his agility and speed around the field. His try record in 2026, five in 11 NPC games, is the best of his career.

Head coach Jamie Joseph has made competition for places the theme of the 2027 squad. "We don't want players waiting for their turn," he said when it was named.

Where he is now

Bell is one of three hookers in the Highlanders' squad for 2027, with Ioane Moananu and Jack Taylor. The squad assembles on 26 November 2026, and the Highlanders open the 2027 season against the Fijian Drua in Fiji on 13 February 2027.

Career at a glance

Otago appearance figures from Wikipedia (to January 2026) and RugbyPass (2026); NPC tries checked against Wikipedia's match records; Super Rugby and Utah figures from RugbyPass.