Mitchell Drummond: five title-winning Crusaders finals, a try in one, and 150 games in red and black

On 4 August 2018 the Crusaders were winning the Super Rugby final against the Lions at Rugby League Park in Christchurch when their replacement halfback, on the field for only eight minutes, scored a try that Richie Mo'unga converted to make it 30-7. The Crusaders won 37-18 for their ninth title. Mitchell Drummond has spent his whole Super Rugby career in red and black, and that try is one highlight among many: five title-winning finals on the field, 150 games for the club by May 2025, an All Blacks cap in Tokyo, and a place back in the Crusaders squad for 2027.

A Nelson start

Drummond was born in Nelson in 1994 and grew up there. The NZ Rugby Museum's profile on stats.allblacks.com records that he went to Nelson College, where he captained the First XV, and that he represented his province at both rugby and cricket before choosing rugby when he left school. (The Museum gives his birth date as 4 May 1994; the Crusaders and Wikipedia give 15 February 1994.)

He was a talented all-rounder in the running games, too. The Crusaders' profile says he was picked for the New Zealand Under 19 touch team and was one of six school students chosen to train with the All Blacks Sevens at a camp in 2013. In 2012 he was named in the New Zealand Barbarians Schools team, the Museum records.

After years in the Tasman age-group teams, he moved to Christchurch at the start of 2013 to join the Canterbury Rugby Academy, working as a builder while he chased a rugby career, the Crusaders say. In Christchurch he played his club rugby for High School Old Boys, the club the Museum records him as being selected from for the All Blacks.

Canterbury

He was in Canterbury's squad in his first year south. Behind the experienced halfbacks Andy Ellis and Willi Heinz, he made one appearance in 2013, off the bench against Manawatu, and Canterbury's only meeting with Manawatu that season was a 72-7 win at Rugby League Park in Christchurch on 25 September 2013.

By 2015 he was the first-choice No 9. He played all 12 of Canterbury's games that year and started the final on 24 October 2015 at Rugby League Park, where Canterbury beat Auckland 25-23 for the title. A broken leg suffered in training limited him to the first three games of 2016, the Museum notes, as Canterbury won again.

His 2017 season included a four-try afternoon. On 13 September 2017, defending the Ranfurly Shield against Counties Manukau at Rugby League Park, he scored four tries in the first 38 minutes of a 78-5 win. He added two more against North Harbour at North Harbour Stadium in Albany on 23 September 2017, scored the first try of the semi-final against North Harbour in Christchurch on 21 October 2017, and started the final at the same ground on 28 October 2017, when Canterbury beat Tasman 35-13 to win the Mitre 10 Cup again.

He was part of another Shield win two years later. On 5 October 2019 Canterbury took the Ranfurly Shield from Otago at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, 35-25, and Drummond scored their second try three minutes after half-time. In 2024 he played his 100th game for Canterbury, the Crusaders record, and by the time he moved home to play for Tasman in 2025 he had played 102 games for the province and scored 139 points, according to Wikipedia.

New Zealand Under 20

In 2014 Drummond was in the New Zealand Under 20 side at the IRB Junior World Championship, which was played in New Zealand. He scored two tries in four matches, the Museum records, and the team finished third.

The Crusaders

The Crusaders named him in their squad for 2014 after just one provincial game. His Super Rugby debut came off the bench against the Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 14 March 2014, in the 79th minute of a 25-19 win, ESPN's match commentary shows. It was his only appearance that season.

From there he grew into one of the club's most durable players. With Heinz injured, he played 15 games in 2015, seven of them as a starter, and scored four tries in 13 games in 2016, the Museum records. Then came the Scott Robertson era and the titles. Drummond was in the match-day 23 for the 2017 final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 5 August 2017, when the Crusaders beat the Lions 25-17 for the title.

A year later, in the 2018 final, he came off the bench in the 54th minute and scored in the 62nd, in front of a crowd of about 20,000. He came on again in the 2019 final, a 19-3 win over the Jaguares at the same ground on 6 July 2019. On 17 April 2021, against the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton, he became the 20th Crusader to play 100 games for the club. A few weeks later he started at halfback in the Super Rugby Aotearoa final against the Chiefs at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch on 8 May 2021, a 24-13 win.

He replaced Bryn Hall in the 59th minute of the 2022 final against the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland on 18 June 2022, which the Crusaders won 21-7, and he started the 2023 final against the Chiefs at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on 24 June 2023, which the Crusaders won 25-20 for their seventh straight title, as the competition's own report put it. Five finals on the field, five wins.

The 150th game came on 23 May 2025, against the Highlanders at a sold-out Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch. He started at halfback and led the team out, and the Crusaders won 15-12 on the night Sevu Reece broke the Super Rugby try-scoring record. "150 games was a goal I set myself at the start of the year," Drummond said. His coach, Rob Penney, said: "He's team first, his work ethic is second to none." Penney also praised the way Drummond kept supporting the younger halfbacks Noah Hotham and Kyle Preston while they held the jerseys ahead of him. By October 2026 Wikipedia credited him with 151 games and 112 points for the club. He is Crusader number 178.

A black jersey, twice

Drummond's first game against the All Blacks came before his first game for them. In November 2017 he was picked for the Barbarians, and on 4 November 2017 at Twickenham in London he came off the bench for the Barbarians against New Zealand, a 31-22 win for the All Blacks. He then joined the All Blacks squad, and on 14 November 2017 he came on for the final ten minutes against a French XV in Lyon, a 28-23 win, as one of five All Blacks debutants who had played for the Barbarians the week before. That match was not a Test.

The Test came a year later. Steve Hansen named him in the wider squad for the 2018 tour that stayed in Japan for the Test against Japan, and on 3 November 2018 at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo he replaced Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi with about 20 minutes to go to become All Black number 1169. The All Blacks won 69-31, and his Crusaders team-mates George Bridge and Brett Cameron were among the other debutants that night. He has one Test cap, no Test tries yet, and a 100 per cent winning record in black.

Back to Tasman, and back to the Crusaders

In 2025 Drummond went home to play NPC rugby for Tasman, and he was named in the Mako squad again for 2026 as one of ten current or former All Blacks in the group. By October 2026 he had played 12 games for Tasman, Wikipedia records.

For the 2026 Super Rugby season he was not in the Crusaders' main squad but in their 12-man wider training group. For 2027 he is back in the full squad. The Crusaders announced that he had been "called back into the 38-man squad after spending 2026 in the Wider Training Group", and he joins Hotham and Preston as the club's three halfbacks under new head coach Scott Hansen, who was an assistant coach at the club when Drummond played in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 finals. The 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season opens on 12 February 2027 with the Crusaders playing the Reds.

Style and standing

What coaches say about Drummond is usually about the team. Penney said in May 2025 that he epitomised what it meant to be a Crusader, the allblacks.com report recorded, and called his ability to get people connected "renowned". Penney added that Drummond's 100 provincial games and 150 Crusaders caps put him in "a unique club". Canterbury first picked him in 2013 on the strength of his good attitude and natural aptitude, the Crusaders profile says, and more than a decade later he is still in the Crusaders squad.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data. Club and provincial figures are from Wikipedia, updated to 9 October 2026.