Jacob Devery: from third-choice Magpies hooker to Shield holder, Māori All Black and Super Rugby champion

In 2019 and 2020 Jacob Devery was Hawke's Bay's third-choice hooker, behind Ash Dixon and Kianu Kereru-Symes, with one provincial game in the first of those seasons and two in the second. Since then he has scored tries in Ranfurly Shield defences, co-captained the Magpies, played for the Māori All Blacks, scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season against the Crusaders, and come off the bench in the Hurricanes' 60-5 final win over the Chiefs on 20 June 2026. This is the story of the hooker from Hastings.

Hastings

Devery was born in Hastings on 21 October 1998 and is of Te Aitanga a Māhaki descent. The Hurricanes describe him as born and raised in Hawke's Bay. As a youngster he played second five-eighth, Wikipedia records, and he has turned out at No 8 for his club, Hastings Rugby and Sports.

At Hastings Boys' High School he spent three years in the First XV, in a side that included future Hawke's Bay team-mates Devan Flanders, Folau Fakatava, Lincoln McClutchie, Danny Toala and Kereru-Symes, with whom he had played rugby for more than a decade by 2025. In his final year the school won the Super 8 title for the first time since 2004, beating Hamilton Boys' High School 30-8 in the final at Hastings Boys' High on 13 August 2016. He was picked for the Hurricanes under-18 side that year.

A Magpie at 18

Hawke's Bay named him in their squad in 2017, his first year out of school. He made his debut off the bench against Bay of Plenty at Rotorua International Stadium on 25 August 2017, and when captain Ash Dixon was injured he made his first start against Wellington at Wellington Regional Stadium on 6 September 2017. He played seven games that season, six of them as a replacement, and was invited to a New Zealand Under 20 development camp in December 2017, though injury kept him out of the trials that followed. He also played for the New Zealand Marist team against a Heartland XV in 2017 and 2019.

Then came the waiting. Wrist and ankle injuries kept him out of the Hawke's Bay side in 2018, although he played for the province's under-19s at their national tournament in Taupō. Hawke's Bay Today reported that he finished his pre-season in 2019 eager to win his place back, but with Dixon and Kereru-Symes ahead of him he managed only one game that year and two in 2020, when Hawke's Bay won the Championship division and the Ranfurly Shield.

The breakthrough: 2021

In 2021 Kereru-Symes was injured, and then Dixon was hurt and left for Japan. Devery took his chance. NZ Rugby History records ten games for Hawke's Bay that season, six of them starts, and five tries. Three of them are in Wikipedia's match records: in an 85-0 Ranfurly Shield defence against North Otago at McLean Park in Napier on 30 June 2021, in a 45-26 win over Canterbury at Rugby League Park in Christchurch on 16 October 2021, and two minutes into a 41-14 Shield defence against Waikato at McLean Park on 23 October 2021.

Hurricane No 284

The Hurricanes had not named him in their 2022 squad, but they called him into pre-season and he played in both warm-up games. He made his Super Rugby debut off the bench against the Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 19 February 2022, where the Crusaders won 42-32. His first Super Rugby try came on 13 May 2023 against Moana Pasifika at Sky Stadium in Wellington, a 71-22 win in which Caleb Delany also scored.

Back with Hawke's Bay, he scored in a 25-24 win over Counties Manukau at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe on 11 August 2023, and on 30 September 2023 the Magpies won the Ranfurly Shield again, 20-18 against Wellington at Wellington Regional Stadium. The Hurricanes credit him with helping the province claim it. He scored in a successful defence against Northland at McLean Park on 23 August 2024, a 55-30 win, and again in the quarter-final against Bay of Plenty at Tauranga Domain on 12 October 2024, which the Bay won 19-17.

2025: two early tries and a captaincy

The 2025 Super Rugby season opened on 14 February 2025 with the Hurricanes against the Crusaders at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch. In the sixth minute Devery "powered over for the opening try", as the Crusaders' own match report put it, and he scored again in the 15th. The Crusaders came back to win 33-25, but it was the start of his busiest Hurricanes season: ten games, six of them starts, and three tries, the third against Moana Pasifika at Sky Stadium on 31 May 2025, a 64-12 win.

On 24 June 2025 he was named in the Māori All Blacks squad. He made his debut off the bench against the Japan XV at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on 28 June 2025, a 53-20 win, and came on again against Scotland at Okara Park in Whangārei on 5 July 2025, a game Scotland won 29-26.

For the 2025 NPC, Hawke's Bay made him co-captain with Tom Parsons, a role Devery saw as a succession plan. "He is the captain, I'm in a support role," he told Hawke's Bay Today. He named Dixon as an inspiration, and pointed to the benefit of having All Black Dane Coles alongside him at the Hurricanes. He scored in a 27-21 win over Otago at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 10 August 2025 and in a 38-10 win over Manawatū at Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North on 4 October 2025.

Champions

Devery played eight games for the Hurricanes in 2026. In the final against the Chiefs at Hnry Stadium in Wellington on 20 June 2026 he wore No 16 and came on for Asafo Aumua in the 66th minute of the 60-5 win, the club's first title since 2016.

A week later, on 27 June 2026, he was on the bench again for the Māori All Blacks against the Japan XV at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, where they came back from 31-14 down to win 38-31. The Hurricanes count three Māori All Blacks appearances for him across 2025 and 2026. He was back in the Hawke's Bay squad for the 2026 NPC.

Style and standing

When the Hurricanes re-signed him on 22 October 2026, head coach Clark Laidlaw called him "a strong, consistent professional who we can really rely on". Laidlaw added that he has "developed into a leader in Hawke's Bay". Devery's own words were about the jersey: "I always feel very proud and privileged every time I get the opportunity," he said.

Where he is now

His one-year extension takes him into a sixth season with the Hurricanes in 2027, as one of four hookers with Asafo Aumua, Vernon Bason and Raymond Tuputupu. He is on 25 Super Rugby games and four tries. One fixture stands out on the 2027 draw: the Hurricanes will host the Chiefs at McLean Park in Napier on Saturday 8 May 2027, the first time the two clubs have met in Hawke's Bay. He has not played a Test.

Career at a glance

Hurricanes figures are the club's own (October 2026). Hawke's Bay games and tries to 2025 are from NZ Rugby History and match Wikipedia's career figures; RUGBE found eight of the ten tries in Wikipedia's match records.