Jack Lee: from Westlake's first Top Four side to a Blues contract in the second row

In 2022 Jack Lee was part of the Westlake Boys High School First XV that won the school's first Blues-region title and finished third in New Zealand. Four years later the 1.97m lock is a Blues player, one of five members of the club's 2026 wider training group promoted to a full Super Rugby contract for 2027. In between he came through the Blues age-grade teams, played club rugby for Takapuna and started his provincial career with a North Harbour side that won one game in 2025, then helped it win six in 2026. This is the story of a North Shore second-rower taking his chance.

Westlake Boys High School

Lee was born on 12 July 2004, according to Wikipedia, and went to Westlake Boys High School on Auckland's North Shore. He was in the Westlake First XV in 2022, the year the school recorded its best result.

Westlake went through the North Harbour 1A competition unbeaten, which earned a Blues-region final against Kelston Boys' High School, the Auckland champions, on 3 September 2022. Westlake had reached that final 13 times before and lost every one. This time they won 23-20, with a late penalty breaking a 20-20 tie, and the Rangitoto Observer reported that the win took Westlake to the national Top Four for the first time.

At the Top Four in Palmerston North, Westlake lost their semi-final 40-17 to Napier Boys' High School, then beat John McGlashan College of Dunedin 36-22 in the play-off for third on 11 September 2022. Westlake's forwards coach, Rob Mildenhall, said it was the first time in the school's 60-year history that it had been ranked third in the country. The captain of that side was Tristyn Cook, who has taken the same path as Lee through Takapuna and North Harbour to the Blues.

The Blues had already noticed. In September 2022 they named five members of the Westlake First XV in their Under 18 squad: Cook, Lee, Elijah Rasmussen, Thomas Bradford and James Cameron.

Takapuna and the Blues pathway

After school Lee joined the Takapuna club and the Blues academy. In February 2023 the Blues named him in their Under 20 wider squad, one of 11 players from the North Harbour region alongside Cook and Cam Christie. In March 2023 the Rangitoto Observer listed Cook and Lee, promising young players just out of Westlake, among the Takapuna players whose higher honours would keep them busy elsewhere. Wikipedia records that he was in the Blues Under 20 squad again in 2024.

North Harbour

Lee was named in North Harbour's squad for the 2025 NPC, in the union's 40th year, as a new cap from Takapuna. He played in all ten of North Harbour's games, six of them as a starting lock and four from the bench, beginning with the season opener against Manawatū at Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North on 1 August 2025, which Manawatū won 38-25. It was a hard first season: North Harbour's only win came in their last game, 15-14 against Southland at North Harbour Stadium on 3 October 2025, and they finished at the bottom of the table.

Even so, the Blues named him in their 2026 wider training group in November 2025, a group whose members can be called up as injury replacements during the Super Rugby season. He did not play a Super Rugby game that year.

For 2026 North Harbour named 20 new caps, 18 of them from its own Premier 1 club competition, and Lee was again among the locks. The team was transformed. North Harbour won six of their ten round-robin games and reached the quarter-finals, where Taranaki won 50-31 at North Harbour Stadium on 10 October 2026.

Lee played nine games that season and was singled out after the 27-19 win over Auckland at North Harbour Stadium on 22 August 2026. RugbyPass reported that he and Cook had together completed 45 of their 47 attempted tackles and won three turnovers. A week later, on 29 August 2026, he scored his first provincial try in the 34th minute against Manawatū at Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North, a game Manawatū won 43-40.

His provincial record after two seasons is 19 NPC games for North Harbour and one try.

The Blues

On 28 October 2026 the Blues named Lee in their 2027 squad as one of five locks, alongside All Black Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Darry, Josh Beehre and his old school captain Cook. The Blues listed him as a rookie, and RugbyPass reported that he was one of five players promoted from the 2026 wider training group, with Leo Gordon, Jed Melvin, Mason Tupaea and Torian Barnes. It is Jason Holland's first squad as Blues head coach, and it also features new signing Ardie Savea.

The Blues open the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season against the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Saturday 13 February 2027, and Lee's Super Rugby debut is still to come.

Style and standing

Wikipedia lists Lee at 1.97m and 110kg. In both of his North Harbour seasons he has been used as a starting lock and as a replacement, and the statistic RugbyPass picked out from his 2026 season was a defensive one, the tackle completion he and Cook achieved against Auckland.

He has not played Test rugby for any country.

Career at a glance

NPC figures by season: 2025, 10 games and no tries; 2026, 9 games and 1 try. Figures are from Kerry Geertson's NZ Rugby History records for 2025 and RugbyPass for both seasons, checked against the try-scorers in the published match records; the sources agree for 2025.