Josh Moorby: from Hamilton Boys' third XV to the Super Rugby try record

At Hamilton Boys' High School he could not get into the A or B teams at under-14 or under-15 level, and in Year 12 he was playing for the third XV. About ten years later he holds a share of the Super Rugby record for tries in a season, and on Sunday morning NZ time he starts on the left wing for the All Blacks at Murrayfield. Josh Moorby, 28, took the long way round: Te Awamutu, Invercargill, Wellington, Northland, Montpellier and back again. Clark Laidlaw, his coach at the Hurricanes, said in June that Moorby "went to France and probably thought he was done in New Zealand". He was not.

Where he comes from

Moorby was born in Te Awamutu on 11 July 1998 and is Ngati Maniapoto. He grew up on a dairy farm outside the town, where his parents still milk. "As a farm kid it's just pretty easy going," he told the REX rural podcast in 2024, recalling a childhood full of mischief. He played tennis until his last year at school, and in rugby he started out as a first five-eighth before moving to fullback and, later, the wing.

His home club is Te Awamutu Sports, and when he was named an All Black the club's director of rugby, Sam Gibbens, told the Te Awamutu News: "His selection is something the whole community can celebrate."

Hamilton Boys' High School

At Hamilton Boys' he was a late developer. He missed the A and B sides in the junior grades, and in Year 12 he was in the third XV, he told clubrugby.nz in 2022. His break came in 2016, when he was called into the First XV's tour of the United Kingdom to cover for an injury. The team played three games in Ireland and two in Wales and won the first four. "It was pretty special to go away with your rugby mates," he said of the trip.

That year Hamilton reached the national top four. In the semi-final against Hastings Boys' High School, he recalled, the score was 11-8 when Hamilton were given a 40-metre penalty. A draw would have been enough, because Hamilton had scored the first try, but the kick hit the post and Hastings went up the other end and scored. He credited the long-serving First XV coach Nigel Hotham with bringing players "up to the next level".

Club rugby and the road south

After school Moorby spent two seasons, 2017 and 2018, playing club rugby for Te Awamutu Sports. He also tried the sevens pathway, and in 2019 he was named in the All Blacks Sevens development squad, according to the Hurricanes.

That year Southland offered him his first professional contract. The Stags were in a bad way: in his first season they ended a 27-game losing streak by beating Counties Manukau 42-14 on 21 September 2019. Moorby played every match that year, nine at fullback and one on the wing, and played his club rugby for Woodlands. "Invercargill has been an awesome place to live," he told the Waikato Herald in 2020. He played 21 games for Southland over three seasons and scored six tries.

At the end of 2019 he spent a few days with the Highlanders, and in 2021 they brought him in as injury cover, though he never took the field for them. Later that year he scored a try for Southland in a 24-22 non-competition loss to Wellington at Porirua Park. A week later the Hurricanes rang. "I was lost for words," he said.

The Hurricanes and the Maori All Blacks

Moorby became Hurricane No 290 in 2022 and scored on debut against Moana Pasifika in Auckland in March. In May he scored a hat-trick in a 67-5 win over the Fijian Drua in Wellington. He finished his first season with nine tries in 10 games, a Hurricanes record for a debut season, and was named the club's rookie of the year. "He wasn't in our starting group at the beginning of the year," head coach Jason Holland said when Moorby re-signed through to 2024, adding that he was "an awesome signing, an awesome man". By the end of the season Holland was picking him at fullback in the biggest games.

That June he was called into the Maori All Blacks for the first time, for their two-match series against Ireland. He played three times for the Maori side in all, the last on their 2024 tour of Japan.

His provincial rugby moved north with him. He played the 2022 and 2023 NPC seasons for Northland, closer to home, and in 2024 he finally pulled on the jersey of his home province, Waikato. Across three seasons with the Hurricanes, from 2022 to 2024, he played 38 games and scored 21 tries; the 2024 campaign ended with a semi-final defeat to the Chiefs. "He's a player that we loved having in the team in 2024," Laidlaw said later.

A season in France

In 2024 Moorby signed a two-year deal with Montpellier in the French Top 14. He played 16 games for the club in the 2024-25 season, 15 in the Top 14 and one in the Challenge Cup against Ospreys, mostly at fullback or on the wing, and Montpellier finished ninth. Then, less than a year after arriving, he left.

In August 2025 the Hurricanes announced he was coming back on a two-year deal. "The Hurricanes are my rugby family," Moorby said. "They gave me my first chance at Super Rugby." He played the 2025 NPC for Waikato before rejoining the club in November.

The record season

Moorby's return could hardly have started better. On the opening weekend of the 2026 season he scored a hat-trick in a 52-10 win over Moana Pasifika, with his wing partner Fehi Fineanganofo scoring twice.

The two of them kept going all season, and the Hurricanes became the first side in Super Rugby history to score more than 100 tries in a season. The Super Rugby record for a season was 16, set by Joe Roff of the Brumbies in 1997 and equalled by Ben Lam of the Hurricanes in 2018. Fineanganofo went into the final, against the Chiefs in Wellington on 20 June 2026, on 16, and Moorby on 15.

Moorby, wearing 14, opened the scoring in the seventh minute to reach 16. Fineanganofo then scored his 17th to take the record outright, and four minutes after half-time Moorby scored again to join him on 17. The Hurricanes won 60-5, the biggest winning margin in any Super Rugby final, for their first title since 2016 and their second in all. That took Moorby to 38 tries in 54 games for the club.

Inside the club they call him "Mr Consistency", Patrick McKendry of 1News reported. Laidlaw put it this way: to come back from France and score 17 tries, showing "consistency at both wing and fullback", was "a huge achievement".

The All Blacks

Dave Rennie named his first All Blacks squad in the days after the final, saying it had been settled before kick-off, and Moorby was in it. He was named on the bench for the second Test of the July Nations Championship series, against Italy in Wellington on 11 July 2026, his 28th birthday. Ten minutes before half-time Leroy Carter went off injured and Moorby, All Black No 1236, was sent on with the All Blacks only four points ahead. "I had to warm up and sort of panicked a bit," he told RNZ. They won 47-17, and afterwards he made straight for his family in the stand and was in tears. Rennie compared his anticipation to that of Will Jordan, who had broken the All Blacks try record that same night.

A week later he started on the left wing against Ireland at Eden Park, and the All Blacks won 40-21. "I think he sniffs out a support line even better than I do, potentially," Jordan said. Attack coach Mike Blair added: "He's quiet but he's got a real confidence about him."

In South Africa he played two of the tour games, against the Stormers in Cape Town and the Bulls in Pretoria, then started the first Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 22 August. After Andre Esterhuizen ran through him for a Springbok try, Moorby answered with his first Test try, finishing an offload from Tupou Vaa'i, and the All Blacks won 33-16. He was not used off the bench in the second Test in Cape Town, came on in the 29-24 loss in the third Test in Johannesburg, and started the fourth in Baltimore, which the Springboks won 43-28 to take the series 3-1.

The Bledisloe Cup brought more tries. Off the bench at Eden Park on 10 October he scored late in a 50-19 win. A week later at Accor Stadium in Sydney, in front of 73,000, he opened the scoring on the left edge, then early in the second half took the ball after a charge by Timoci Tavatavanawai, sold a dummy and walked in untouched. The All Blacks won 43-21.

That gives him seven Tests, four of them starts on the left wing, four tries and five wins.

Style and standing

Moorby is a support runner first: a wing or fullback who reads where the ball is going and turns up there. "I try to anticipate where the ball might be," he told clubrugby.nz in 2022, and that is the quality Jordan and Rennie keep coming back to. He also covers 10 metres in 1.59 seconds, clubrugby.nz reported.

McKendry, writing for 1News in July, called him "a 28-year-old late bloomer" and saw "a hint of Ben Smith about him". Jordan, after the Ireland Test, called him "a busy footballer".

Off the field

Moorby has kept his roots. He has talked about going back to farming with his family when his rugby career is over.

Where he is now

Moorby is contracted to the Hurricanes for 2027 and is in their squad for next season. On Sunday 8 November (NZ time) he starts on the left wing against Scotland at Murrayfield, his eighth Test, with Wales and England to follow and the Nations Championship finals weekend at Twickenham at the end of the month.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026.