Josh Lord: the Taumarunui lock who fought back from an ACL to 18 Tests

A year ago Josh Lord started for the All Blacks at Murrayfield. This weekend he is in the touring squad but not the 23, with Scott Barrett and Fabian Holland named at lock. His career has been shaped by injuries and comebacks: an All Black at 20, then a ruptured ACL, a concussion, ankle and knee problems and a torn meniscus, and back each time. He goes into the northern tour with 18 Tests, a Super Rugby final and an NPC title behind him, and a contract with New Zealand Rugby, the Chiefs and Taranaki to the end of 2029.

Ōwhango and a rugby father

Josh Matthew John Lord was born on 17 January 2001 on Auckland's North Shore, but he calls the King Country home. "Home is always Taumarunui," he told King Country News in 2025.

Rugby was in the family. His father, Matt Lord, was born in Taumarunui and played for Thames Valley, North Harbour and the Blues before finishing his career with Northampton Saints in England in 2009. When that ended, Lord told the paper, his father went home to the family farm at Ōwhango, the small farming and skiing settlement near Taumarunui where the family still lives. "Ōwhango is only little but everyone knows everyone and they're tight knit," Lord said.

He started at Ōwhango Primary, a school of about 50 pupils, and moved to Turaki Primary in Taumarunui for Years 7 and 8. His parents made that move, he explained, to get him used to a bigger school before he went to Hamilton Boys' High School, which had about 2,500 boys. "That was a bit of a shock to the system," he said.

Hamilton and the age-grade radar

RUGBE could not find a detailed published account of Lord's First XV years at Hamilton Boys' High. New Zealand Rugby's profile says he first came onto the national radar with the University of Waikato Under 20 side and with the New Zealand Under 20 programme. By then he was already very tall: NZ Rugby lists him at 203 centimetres.

Taranaki

Straight out of school, Taranaki gave him his chance in 2019. He played four games for the province that year, one as a starter, then ten in 2020, nine of them as a starter, according to rugbyhistory.co.nz. His club in Taranaki is Coastal.

In 2021 he played five games as Taranaki went through the Championship division unbeaten. In December that year he was named New Zealand Rugby's Age Grade Player of the Year at the ASB Rugby Awards, ahead of fellow nominees Chay Fihaki and Soane Vikena.

Chiefs and a call from the All Blacks

Lord was in the Chiefs' wider training group in 2020 and made the full squad for 2021. He made his Super Rugby debut against the Crusaders that season and played five games.

Later that year came the All Blacks. In October 2021, with Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu heading home from the All Blacks' long tour for family reasons, coach Ian Foster called in the 20-year-old Taranaki lock. On 23 October 2021 (24 October NZ time), at FedEx Field in Washington DC, Lord came off the bench against the United States for a 22-minute debut in a 104-14 win. Two weeks later, on 6 November, he made his first Test start, in a 47-9 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. "Every debut has been special but obviously the All Blacks is always the pinnacle," he said years later.

The lost year

In 2022 Lord played ten games for the Chiefs and was named in the All Blacks squad to face Ireland. But he had hurt his left knee late in the Super Rugby season, missing the Chiefs' last four games, and in June an MRI scan showed a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. He was ruled out for the rest of the year.

He did not play again until round nine of the 2023 Super Rugby season. He also had a concussion, and he was not available for the Chiefs' final against the Crusaders. Instead he played club rugby for Hamilton Old Boys, against Hautapu in Cambridge, with Foster watching from the sideline, the Cambridge News reported. He had already been named in the All Blacks squad for the Rugby Championship, which the paper called a "shock selection" after his year out.

In 2023 he also went home. Lord told King Country News that after his return from injury in 2023 he played for the Taumarunui Districts club, his first game of rugby in his hometown for a decade, with his father coaching and old primary school mates around him. He describes playing for Taumarunui as "a close third" among his career highlights, behind the All Blacks and the Ranfurly Shield.

Back in black, and an NPC title

Foster started him at lock in the opening Rugby Championship Test of 2023, a 41-12 win over Argentina in Mendoza on 8 July. Lord narrowly missed selection for the World Cup squad, but he was called back in for the pre-tournament Test against South Africa at Twickenham on 25 August, as a replacement for the injured hooker George Bell, and came off the bench in a 35-7 defeat.

He finished 2023 with a title. On 21 October he started at lock in the NPC final at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, where Taranaki beat Hawke's Bay 22-19 to become champions.

More setbacks, more comebacks

The next two years tested him again. In 2024 an ankle injury delayed his Super Rugby season until round four, he left the round-six match against the Crusaders early, and a knee injury then sidelined him for about eight weeks. The NZ Herald counted at that point that he had played in only 22 of the Chiefs' previous 52 matches.

He recovered in time to be named as injury cover for the All Blacks' Rugby Championship squad, and came off the bench in both Tests against Argentina in August: a 38-30 loss in Wellington and a 42-10 win at Eden Park. He was originally named in the All Blacks XV squad for that year's northern tour, but went with the All Blacks instead and came off the bench against Japan in Yokohama, a 64-19 win.

In 2025 a meniscus tear in round three, against the Brumbies, sidelined him again, though it did not need surgery. "I take that as a win," he told the Herald. When he came back, against the Western Force, he stole two opposition lineouts in 55 minutes. "You've got to stay positive. You can't dwell on it too long," he said.

That year he scored a try in Taranaki's 97-0 Ranfurly Shield defence against Thames Valley in July, and won back his place with the All Blacks. He came off the bench in Buenos Aires in August, then had his longest run of Test rugby on the end-of-year tour. In Chicago on 1 November, Scott Barrett left with a badly cut leg in the third minute and Lord came on in his place for a 26-13 win over Ireland; 1News called him "an able replacement". He started at Murrayfield the following week, a 25-17 win over Scotland, and at Twickenham against England, then came off the bench in the 52-26 win over Wales in Cardiff.

2026

In March 2026 Lord re-signed with New Zealand Rugby, the Chiefs and Taranaki through to the end of 2029. "Hamilton, the Chiefs and Taranaki are home," he said. Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes said: "His was an important signature for us and our region." Taranaki chief executive Jimmy Fastier went further: "Josh is one of the most exciting locks in the country."

The Chiefs reached the Super Rugby Pacific final for the fourth year in a row. Lord, who had scored against the Crusaders in May, started at lock in the final against the Hurricanes in Wellington on 20 June, which the Hurricanes won 60-5.

Dave Rennie's first All Blacks team, against France in Christchurch on 4 July, had Lord and Sam Darry starting at lock, and the All Blacks won 34-32. Lord came off the bench against Italy and started the 40-21 win over Ireland at Eden Park. On the South Africa tour he played the Sharks and Bulls tour matches, then started the first Test in Johannesburg on 22 August, a 33-16 win, after which he went through concussion protocols. He was back to come off the bench in the series-deciding 43-28 loss in Baltimore. Between Tests he scored for Taranaki against Hawke's Bay in the NPC. In October he started the 50-19 Bledisloe Cup win over Australia at Eden Park.

His Test record stands at 18 matches, eight starts and 13 wins.

Style and standing

New Zealand Rugby's profile describes him as a towering lock known for his lineout prowess and physical presence, and the Chiefs call him versatile. The All Blacks, naming him for Rennie's first Test, called Lord and Darry "impressive young locks". Lord himself has joked that his height may not help with injuries: being six foot nine, he told the Herald in 2025, "probably doesn't help".

Off the field

Lord has not forgotten the King Country. He told King Country News that he would love to go home towards the end of his career to play a few games for King Country and Taumarunui, and then help with community rugby. "It's definitely something I want to achieve before I finish up," he said.

Where he is now

Lord is one of five locks in the 36-man squad for the Nations Championship tour. He is not in the 23 for the Test against Scotland at Murrayfield, which kicks off at 3.10am on Sunday 8 November NZ time. Wales in Cardiff and England at Twickenham follow on consecutive weekends, then the finals weekend in London. He is contracted until the end of 2029, through the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026. Provincial and Super Rugby figures are from Wikipedia (updated 17 October 2026).