Oliver Haig: Perth-born, England-raised, an All Blacks XV starter at Thomond Park and a Hurricane for 2027

Oliver Haig was born in Perth, grew up in England and did not arrive in Dunedin until he was 14. Within a decade the tall loose forward had won an Oceania title with New Zealand Under 20, trained with the All Blacks in Japan as injury cover, started at blindside flanker for the All Blacks XV in a 38-24 win over Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick, and helped Otago win the Ranfurly Shield. In September 2026 the Super Rugby champion Hurricanes signed him for 2027. This is the story of a Highlander who learned his rugby at Otago Boys' High School and is taking it to Wellington.

Perth, England and Dunedin

Haig was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 3 January 2002, the date given by Wikipedia. He grew up in England, and RugbyPass noted in 2024 that he still spoke with an English accent. He moved to Dunedin at 14, RugbyPass reported, and enrolled at Otago Boys' High School.

Otago Boys' High School

Haig made the Otago Boys' First XV as a Year 11 pupil in 2018, early for a forward, and the school won three Otago schools championships in a row from 2018 to 2020, RugbyPass reported. He was named on the bench for the 2018 Southern Region Top Four final against Southland Boys' High School at Littlebourne on 25 August 2018, a 26-7 win in which his school-mate Jake Te Hiwi set up a try. Leading Southland Boys' that day was their captain, Sean Withy, who would end up in the same Otago back row as Haig four years later.

In October 2020, his final year at school, he was named in the New Zealand Barbarians schools squad, the second team to New Zealand Schools. The following April he was in the Highlanders Under 20 squad for the national under-20 tournament in Taupō, captained by Withy. At club level Haig plays for Green Island in Dunedin.

New Zealand Under 20 and an Otago debut

In 2022 Haig made the New Zealand Under 20 squad for the Oceania Under 20 Championship at Sunshine Coast Stadium in Kawana Waters, Queensland. He played all three games, two at flanker and one off the bench, as New Zealand beat Fiji 74-5 on 1 July 2022, Argentina 32-9 on 5 July 2022 and Australia 69-12 on 10 July 2022 to take the title unbeaten. He scored a try against Argentina, alongside Te Hiwi. Within weeks the Highlanders had signed both of them, along with three other New Zealand Under 20 players, on three-year deals from 2024.

Haig had been brought into Otago's NPC preparation as cover, the union said when it named its 2022 squad, for players away on national duty or coming back from injury. He did enough in pre-season to force his way into the starting side for the opening game. "Oli Haig got an opportunity during the pre-season and did really, really well," Otago coach Tom Donnelly told the ODT. The coach added that Haig "offers us something a little different for our loose forwards", and the ODT described him as rangy and an excellent lineout option.

His first-class debut came at blindside flanker on 6 August 2022, against Counties Manukau at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe, alongside Withy on the openside. Counties won 23-22. Haig played in all ten of Otago's games that season, six of them as a starter, and scored two tries: in a 35-17 loss to Auckland at Eden Park on 27 August 2022 and in a 54-35 win over Manawatū in Palmerston North on 25 September 2022.

The Highlanders

Haig's Highlanders contract was due to start in 2024, but he got there early. The Highlanders called him in as an injury replacement before round four of the 2023 season, and he made his Super Rugby debut off the bench against the Western Force at Rugby Park in Invercargill on 19 March 2023. The Highlanders won 43-35.

He did not play in the 2023 NPC, but 2024 was his breakthrough season in Super Rugby. He played 12 games for the Highlanders, seven of them as a starting flanker and one at lock, and was part of the side that beat the Crusaders 32-29 in Dunedin on 11 May 2024, the Highlanders' first win over New Zealand opposition in 19 attempts, RugbyPass noted.

Back with Otago in 2024, he played nine games and produced the best scoring day of his provincial career on 25 August 2024, when he scored twice, in the 63rd and 74th minutes, in a 31-26 win over Bay of Plenty in Dunedin.

All Blacks XV, and a week with the All Blacks

On 8 October 2024 Haig was named in the 29-man All Blacks XV squad for a northern tour against Munster and Georgia, selected jointly by the All Blacks and All Blacks XV coaching groups. Before the tour he spent time with the All Blacks themselves as injury cover in Japan, where they were preparing to play the Brave Blossoms.

He then rejoined the All Blacks XV and started at blindside flanker against Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick on 2 November 2024 (3 November in New Zealand). The All Blacks XV led 14-12 at half-time and were only two points clear with five minutes left, but they finished strongly to win 38-24. They made 165 tackles to Munster's 97 and won 11 of their 12 lineouts.

The 2025 Shield season

A foot injury slowed the start of Haig's 2025. The Highlanders listed him as seven weeks away in late February, and he played five Super Rugby games that year, and was named on the bench for the southern derby against the Crusaders in Dunedin on 26 April 2025.

An ankle injury then delayed his NPC start, and when he returned early, from the bench against Hawke's Bay in Dunedin on 10 August 2025, the ODT noted that he would cover both lock and loose forward. After a strong outing off the bench against Taranaki on 13 September 2025, Otago coach Mark Brown picked him at No 6 for the Ranfurly Shield challenge against Canterbury in Christchurch a week later.

Otago trailed 36-21 with 25 minutes to go on 20 September 2025, then came back to win 38-36 and take the Shield. Haig started that day and started again in the 41-17 semi-final win over Bay of Plenty in Dunedin on 17 October 2025. In the final against Canterbury in Christchurch on 25 October 2025 he started at lock, and Canterbury won 36-28. He played 12 NPC games that season, five of them as a starter, three at lock and two at flanker.

2026: lock, flanker and two intercepts

With All Black Fabian Holland out for the whole 2026 Super Rugby season, the Highlanders often used Haig at No 4 lock. He played 14 games that season, his most for the club, and took his Highlanders total to 32 games.

For Otago he went back to blindside flanker, with three straight starts there before he was moved into the second row for the trip to Hawke's Bay on 4 September 2026. He scored his fifth NPC try in a 50-21 win over Counties Manukau in Pukekohe on 17 September 2026. In the quarter-final against Hawke's Bay in Dunedin on 10 October 2026, a 50-14 win, he made two intercepts that the ODT called very important: one early in the second half to stop a Hawke's Bay attack on the blindside, and another that set up a try for Sam Nemec-Vial. He started at blindside again in the semi-final against Northland in Whangārei on 16 October 2026, which Northland won 38-19.

The Hurricanes

The Hurricanes announced Haig's signing on 3 September 2026, a few months after winning the 2026 title. Head coach Clark Laidlaw said the club needed players who were ready to play Super Rugby from round one, and that it was Haig's form for the All Blacks XV that had caught the Hurricanes' attention. Haig said he was excited to be moving to Wellington.

When the Hurricanes named their 2027 squad on 28 October 2026, he was one of seven loose forwards, alongside All Blacks Peter Lakai and Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa, Brayden Iose, Brad Shields, Du'Plessis Kirifi and Arese Poliko. His former Otago team-mate Rohan Wingham joins him in Wellington.

Style and standing

The ODT picked out his rangy frame and lineout work in 2022, and in his later Otago and Highlanders seasons he has started at lock as well as blindside.

He has not played Test rugby for any country.

2027

The Hurricanes open the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season against the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday 13 February 2027. Haig goes into it with 32 Super Rugby games, 39 NPC games and five NPC tries.

Career at a glance

NPC figures by season: 2022, 10 games and 2 tries; 2023, none; 2024, 9 games and 2 tries; 2025, 12 games and no tries; 2026, 8 games and 1 try. Super Rugby: 2023, 1 game; 2024, 12; 2025, 5; 2026, 14. Figures are from Kerry Geertson's NZ Rugby History records to 2025 and RugbyPass for 2026, checked against the try-scorers in the published match records; the two agree for every NPC season they share. Otago won the Ranfurly Shield on 20 September 2025 with Haig in the starting XV.