Josh Beehre: a Super Rugby debut in his Whangārei home town, then a Blues title in his first season

Josh Beehre's first Super Rugby game was in his home town. On 24 February 2024 the 21-year-old lock started for the Blues against the Fijian Drua at Semenoff Stadium in Whangārei, the first in-season Super Rugby match there since 2011, and four months later he came off the bench in the final as the Blues won their first title in 21 years. Since then he has played for the Barbarians against the Springboks in Cape Town and for the All Blacks XV in Europe, and he goes into 2027 with 40 games and four tries for the Blues and ten tries in 35 games for Auckland.

Whangārei

Beehre was born in Whangārei on 30 March 2002 and grew up there. He went to Whangārei Boys' High School and played lock for its First XV, wearing No 4 in 2019 when the school reached its first North Harbour 1A final, a curtain-raiser against Westlake Boys' High School at North Harbour Stadium in Albany on 16 August 2019.

As a boy he was in the crowd the last time the Blues had played in Whangārei. "I was at the last Blues game in Whangārei," he told allblacks.com before his debut.

Hastings and the Auckland Academy

His path to professional rugby included a season at Hastings Boys' High School, when he was looking for a change of environment, allblacks.com reported. He was then picked up by the Auckland Academy and played for the Blues at under-18 and under-20 level, and in Auckland he joined the Grammar TEC club.

2022 was the year everything arrived at once. He made his premier debut for Grammar TEC, his NPC debut for Auckland and his debut for New Zealand Under 20, and in November 2022 he won the supreme award at Auckland Rugby's representative awards, which recognises leadership, belief and unity.

New Zealand Under 20

The Under 20s played the 2022 Oceania Championship at Sunshine Coast Stadium in Queensland. Beehre started at lock in the 74-5 win over Fiji on 1 July 2022 and again in the 32-9 win over Argentina on 5 July 2022, in a squad captained by hooker George Bell that also included Jamie Hannah, Wallace Sititi and Peter Lakai. On 10 July 2022 New Zealand beat Australia 69-12, a record score between the two in the age group, to win the title unbeaten, and Beehre scored one of their 11 tries. One of Australia's two try-scorers that day was Darby Lancaster, who joins Beehre at the Blues in 2027.

Auckland

Beehre played five NPC games for Auckland in 2022. In 2023 he started nine games and scored four tries, despite playing in the middle of the scrum, as the Northern Advocate pointed out. He scored in a 41-22 win over Hawke's Bay at Eden Park on 26 August 2023 and in a 27-26 win over Northland at Eden Park on 29 September 2023, then scored twice in the quarter-final against Canterbury at Rugby League Park in Christchurch on 6 October 2023, which Canterbury won 29-24.

He added three more tries in 2024: in Dunedin against Otago on 16 August 2024, against Southland at Eden Park on 22 September 2024, and against Bay of Plenty at Auckland Grammar School on 6 October 2024. He scored against Northland at Eden Park on 23 August 2025, and in 2026 he scored in each of Auckland's first two games, against Canterbury in Christchurch on 1 August 2026 and in a 34-31 win over Wellington at Western Springs Stadium in Auckland on 8 August 2026. He has 35 games and ten tries for Auckland.

The Blues

Beehre spent 2023 training with the Blues on a National Development Contract and was given his first full contract for 2024, the selectors having been impressed by his NPC season, the Northern Advocate reported. When captain Patrick Tuipulotu was injured before the opening round, he was named to start against the Fijian Drua in Whangārei.

"It couldn't have been drawn up any better," he told allblacks.com. The Northern Advocate reported an expected crowd of 15,000 for the first in-season Super Rugby game at Semenoff Stadium since the Blues played the Cheetahs in 2011, and Beehre called it a moment that had come "full circle". The Blues won 34-10.

He played 12 games in his first season, and on 22 June 2024 he was on the bench for the final against the Chiefs at Eden Park. He came on in the 58th minute, and the Blues won 41-10 for their first Super Rugby title since 2003.

In 2025 he played 15 games and scored his first three Super Rugby tries, including one in a 25-22 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch on 18 April 2025 and one in a 40-19 win over the Western Force at Eden Park on 2 May 2025. In 2026 he started the opening game against the Chiefs at Eden Park on 14 February 2026 and scored in a 42-32 win over the Force in Perth on 21 February 2026. He played 13 games as the Blues finished fourth and reached the semi-finals, where the Hurricanes beat them in Wellington on 13 June 2026.

Barbarian and All Blacks XV

In June 2025 Beehre was invited to play for the Barbarians against South Africa at DHL Stadium in Cape Town. He came off the bench in the 61st minute on 28 June 2025; the Springboks won 54-7.

That October he was named in the All Blacks XV squad for a three-match tour of Europe under coach Jamie Joseph. He started at lock against the Barbarians in Brentford on 1 November 2025, when the All Blacks XV came back from 19-0 down to win 33-19, came on in the 53rd minute of a 31-14 win over England A at the Recreation Ground in Bath on 8 November 2025, and started again in the 45-21 win over Uruguay in Béziers on 16 November 2025 that completed an unbeaten tour. Joseph described the England A match as having "Test match status for these guys".

Style and standing

The Blues call Beehre "one of the great success stories" of their development pathway, a powerful and athletic lock with strong lineout ability and a big work rate around the field. Listed at 198 centimetres and 120 kilograms, he has scored 14 tries in his Auckland and Blues careers combined. His own job description, before his debut, was simpler: "I'll be just clearing rucks and doing my job in the lineouts."

Where he is now

Beehre has not played a Test for any country. On 28 October 2026 the Blues named him in their 2027 squad, one of five locks with Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Darry, Tristyn Cook and Jack Lee, under new head coach Jason Holland. He is contracted to the Blues to the end of the 2027 season, and the squad assembles at Blues headquarters in late November 2026.

Career at a glance

Auckland and Blues figures are RugbyPass's season records; the Blues total agrees with Wikipedia's list of Blues players, and the Auckland tries match the scorers in Wikipedia's NPC match records. Under 20 appearances are the three Oceania Championship matches for which RUGBE found him in the team.