Peter Lakai: from a shot put title and Petone to the All Blacks No 7 jersey

As a teenager Peter Lakai won a North Island under 14 shot put title. About a decade later he is the All Blacks' openside flanker, a Super Rugby champion with the Hurricanes, and the player the former All Black Jeff Wilson has called "the best openside flanker in the world". In between, he has won an NPC title with Wellington at 19, co-captained New Zealand Under 20 and worn the No 6, No 7 and No 8 jerseys in Tests.

Born in Auckland, raised in Wellington

Peter Lakai was born on 4 March 2003. The NZ Rugby Museum's record lists Wellington as his birthplace, but Lakai has said himself that he was born in Auckland and moved south as a young boy, so we have gone with his account. "Wellington is home, the Hurricanes is home," he said in 2024. "I spent a lot of my childhood supporting the Canes." His heritage is Ghanaian through his father and Tongan through his mother.

Growing up, his heroes were Ardie and Julian Savea, the Hurricanes centurions from Wellington. Rugby was not his only sport. In summer he did athletics, and he was good enough at the shot put to win the North Island under 14 title, he told superrugby.co.nz.

St Pat's Silverstream and Petone

He went to St Patrick's College, Silverstream, where he played No 8 for the First XV under the former Hurricane Tim Mannix, and the NZ Rugby Museum notes that his athleticism and rugby brain stood out there. The Hurricanes identified him as an emerging talent in 2019, and he came through their pathway, playing for the Hurricanes Under 18s.

His club is Petone. In 2022 he played nine games for them, eight at No 8, as Petone won the Swindale Shield for the first time since 2009, and he started at No 8 in the Jubilee Cup final against Northern United.

Under 20s and a Wellington title

He was picked for New Zealand Under 20 straight out of school, and in 2021, aged 18, he made his Wellington debut against Southland after joining the Lions squad as injury cover. The Hurricanes release that tells that story describes him as one of Wellington's youngest debutants.

The 2022 season was the one that made his name. He had his first full-time contract with Wellington, started each of Wellington's first 11 NPC games of the season at No 8 and scored a hat-trick in a 31-25 win over Taranaki. On 22 October he started at No 8 in the final against Canterbury in Christchurch, which Wellington won 26-18, the province's first title in 21 years, Reuters reported. Wellington also won the Ranfurly Shield that year. "The first year was pretty surreal," Lakai said later, "not only winning the Shield but ending up winning the whole thing." He was named New Zealand Rugby's Age Grade Player of the Year and finished in the top three for the Duane Monkley Medal as the NPC's best player, aged 19.

His Wellington captain, Du'Plessis Kirifi, told ClubRugby that season: "He is a special young man." What stood out, Kirifi said, was how Lakai took feedback and put it into practice straight away.

In 2023 he was co-captain of the New Zealand Under 20 side at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in South Africa. He scored against France in pool play and again in the last match, a 50-26 win over Georgia in Stellenbosch that gave New Zealand seventh place. Wikipedia credits him with seven games for New Zealand Under 20.

The Hurricanes

The Hurricanes signed him on a National Development Contract in 2022 and then on a full contract for 2023 to 2025. He made his Super Rugby debut against the Reds in the first round of 2023, and in March, aged 20, he started at No 8 against the Blues in place of Savea, who was serving a one-week suspension. His coach Jason Holland called him "a special kid".

Late in 2023 he spent eight weeks recovering from a scaphoid injury, and with Savea away on sabbatical in Japan he was one of the young loose forwards asked to step up in 2024. He spoke warmly of what Savea had taught him. "He's the best player in the world but he's a better man off it," Lakai said. At the end of the 2024 season he was named one of the Hurricanes' Players of the Year, with Billy Proctor, and re-signed with the club until at least the end of 2027. Clark Laidlaw, who had coached him in the Under 20s before taking over the Hurricanes, praised his "great humility and maturity for someone so young".

A call-up and a debut in Yokohama

Lakai was not in the original squad for the 2024 end-of-year tour, but injuries to Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson and Dalton Papali'i changed that. He and Josh Lord were called in, with Scott Robertson saying the All Blacks were "giving Peter Lakai his chance to wear the All Blacks jersey".

He made his Test debut off the bench against Japan in Yokohama on 26 October 2024, a 64-19 win. That same day, back home, Wellington won another NPC title, beating Bay of Plenty 23-20 after extra time. On 16 November in Paris he came off the bench again and scored his first Test try, although France won 30-29, and a week later he came off the bench in a 29-11 win over Italy in Turin.

First start, and No 8 on the northern tour

His next Test came in September 2025, off the bench in the 33-24 Bledisloe Cup win at Eden Park, and it earned him a start. For the return Test in Perth on 4 October, Robertson moved Wallace Sititi to the bench and put Lakai in at No 8. Robertson said Lakai had taken his opportunity at Eden Park and that the game would suit "the way he hunts and his skill set". The All Blacks won 28-14.

He kept the No 8 jersey on the northern tour, starting against Ireland at Soldier Field in Chicago (26-13), against Scotland at Murrayfield (25-17) and against England at Twickenham, where the All Blacks lost 33-19.

Champion

In 2026 the Hurricanes won the Super Rugby Pacific title for the first time in ten years. In the final against the Chiefs in Wellington on 20 June, Lakai started at No 8, and in the second half his break started the move that ended with Ruben Love somersaulting over a defender to score. The Hurricanes won 60-5, the biggest winning margin in a Super Rugby final.

Six, seven and eight

Dave Rennie, in his first Test as All Blacks coach, picked Lakai at blindside flanker against France in Christchurch, the first time he had worn the No 6 jersey, and Lakai scored in a 34-32 win. He was left out for Italy, came off the bench against Ireland, and on the tour of South Africa played against the Stormers, the Bulls and the Lions, came off the bench in the first two Tests, and started the third at blindside and the fourth, in Baltimore, at No 8.

With Ardie Savea injured, Rennie then gave him the No 7 jersey for the Bledisloe Cup. He scored in the 50-19 win at Eden Park on 10 October and again in the 43-21 win in Sydney a week later, a match the All Blacks finished with 13 men after injuries and a yellow card, with Lakai in the midfield. "I thought he was phenomenal in South Africa as well," Rennie said afterwards. "He runs like a back, and he's got a great skill set."

Style and standing

The praise has grown louder through 2026. Wilson, speaking on Sky Sport's The Breakdown, went furthest: "To me, he looks like a young Michael Jones," he said, and he described Lakai as a quiet, reserved man who would not talk himself up. Coaches have tended to talk about the person as much as the player: Laidlaw about his humility, Kirifi about his willingness to learn, Holland about "a top young man" who worked hard for his first contract.

Off the field he is a keen basketball fan who follows the Boston Celtics, Wikipedia records, and he has described the Hurricanes' base at Trentham, shared with other national teams, as a place where the players spend most of the day, weekends included.

Where he is now

Lakai, 23, has 16 Tests and four tries. Rennie has named him at openside flanker against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday 7 November (3.10am Sunday NZ time), with Tupou Vaa'i at blindside and Wallace Sititi at No 8, the same back row that started both Bledisloe Tests. His Hurricanes contract runs to the end of 2027, and he is in the defending champions' squad for next season.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026. Provincial, Hurricanes and Under 20 figures are from Wikipedia, updated October 2026; the Petone figure is from ClubRugby.nz.