Rohan Wingham: the prop who ended King's High's 23-year New Zealand Schools wait joins the Hurricanes

On Easter Saturday, 30 March 2024, a 21-year-old prop from Dunedin came off the bench at Forsyth Barr Stadium in the 59th minute to make his Super Rugby debut for the Highlanders. The opposition was the Hurricanes. "There was a big grin when the team got named, he's a local boy," head coach Clarke Dermody said that week. In 2027 Rohan Wingham will wear the colours of the team he made it against. This is the story of the King's High School captain who ended his school's 23-year wait for a New Zealand Schools player, packed down on both sides of the scrum for Otago, and signed with the Super Rugby champions.

King's High School

Wingham was born on 4 November 2002, the date given by Wikipedia, and grew up in Dunedin. He went to King's High School, where he captained the First XV from the front row. In his final year, 2020, King's reached the Otago premier schools final, losing to Otago Boys' High School.

That year brought national recognition. King's High School announced that Wingham had been picked for the New Zealand Barbarians Under 18 squad, which assembled in Hamilton during the school holidays for a one-off fixture on 9 October 2020, split into two teams named after Andy Haden and Alan Whetton. Later in October came the bigger news: Wingham was named in the New Zealand Schools side, the first King's pupil to make it in 23 years. The last had been two front rowers, Tom Willis and Carl Hayman, in 1997; both went on to become All Blacks.

The ODT reported that Wingham, a Year 13 pupil about to turn 18, had spent part of the selection camp in Hamilton away from the training field, studying for a physics test. He planned to study chemistry and physics at university. The 2020 New Zealand Schools side was, the ODT later noted, a paper team that did not play.

Highlanders Under 20 and North Otago

In April 2021 Wingham was one of three members of that New Zealand Schools team, with lock Fabian Holland and halfback Noah Hotham, in the Highlanders Under 20 squad for the national under-20 tournament in Taupō. Holland and Hotham have both since become All Blacks. The side was captained by Sean Withy and coached by Mark Ozich, with Ryan Bambry, who had coached the King's First XV in 2020, among his assistants. Wingham joined the Highlanders high-performance programme that year and plays his club rugby for Dunedin.

In 2022 Otago used him in two ways. The union listed him and Oliver Haig as local players assembling with the NPC squad in pre-season to cover for injuries and national duty, and it loaned him to North Otago for the Heartland Championship. North Otago coach Jason Forrest told the ODT that Wingham had stood out for his work rate and physicality, and called the Heartland competition "really good development for him". A calf strain delayed his start, but he made his debut for the Old Golds at tighthead against Buller in Oamaru on 27 August 2022, and he played four games for them. North Otago finished fifth in the regular season and lost their Lochore Cup semi-final 31-15 to Mid Canterbury.

Otago

Wingham was one of the uncapped players in Otago's 2023 NPC squad, and he was picked for the opening game, against Tasman at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on 4 August 2023. He started at loosehead, and although Tasman won 27-15, the ODT wrote that the debutant "impressed at loosehead", noting that he had played most of his rugby on the tighthead side. Josh Whaanga made his Otago debut in the same match. Wingham played nine games that season, six of them as a starter.

He played ten more in 2024, mostly from the bench, and in 2025 he became a regular starter. After a late withdrawal from the opening game and a return via the reserves, he started eight of his 12 games that season. He was named at tighthead for a 28-26 win over Taranaki in Dunedin on 13 September 2025, and again a week later in Christchurch, on 20 September 2025, when Otago came back from 36-21 down to beat Canterbury 38-36 and win the Ranfurly Shield.

He was in the front row for the semi-final win over Bay of Plenty in Dunedin on 17 October 2025, 41-17, and for the final against Canterbury in Christchurch on 25 October 2025. Canterbury won 36-28, but the Highlanders noted afterwards that Wingham and Lucas Casey had topped the tackle count in the final. Wingham played 73 minutes at tighthead that day.

He was back in Otago's front-row group in 2026, one the ODT described in July as an "embarrassment of riches", alongside All Black George Bower, Saula Ma'u, Abraham Pole, Henry Bell and Liam Coltman. He played ten NPC games that season and was on the bench for the semi-final against Northland in Whangārei on 16 October 2026, which Northland won 38-19. Across four NPC seasons he has played 41 games for Otago without scoring a try.

The Highlanders

Wingham started 2024 in the Highlanders' wider training group, but on 25 January 2024 the club elevated him into the full squad. In announcing the move, the Highlanders described him as a graduate of their high-performance programme, a former King's First XV captain and a New Zealand Schools alumnus, and later called it a speedy transition from uncontracted to fully contracted player in a matter of months.

When Jermaine Ainsley hurt his back, Wingham was named on the bench for the round six game against the Hurricanes in Dunedin on Easter Saturday 2024. Dermody said Wingham had wanted the chance "for the last couple of years he's been with us", and pointed out that he had spent those years scrummaging against All Black Ethan de Groot at training. Wingham came on for Saula Ma'u in the 59th minute. The Hurricanes won 47-12. He played three games for the club in 2024.

He did not play Super Rugby in 2025, but after the 2025 NPC the Highlanders named him in their wider training group for 2026. Their announcement said he "had a solid season for Otago at tighthead prop" and added that at 22 he had plenty of rugby ahead of him. He played five more Super Rugby games in 2026, taking his Highlanders total to eight.

The Hurricanes

The Hurricanes announced Wingham as a new signing during 2026, and when they named their 2027 squad on 28 October 2026 he was one of six props, alongside Siale Lauaki, Tyrel Lomax, Xavier Numia, Pasilio Tosi and Tito Tuipulotu. The champions' squad also includes Haig, his team-mate from the 2021 Highlanders Under 20 side and Otago. The Hurricanes open the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season against the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday 13 February 2027.

Style and standing

He came through as a tighthead and has started on both sides of the scrum for Otago.

He has not played Test rugby for any country.

Career at a glance

NPC figures by season: 2023, 9 games; 2024, 10; 2025, 12; 2026, 10; no tries in any season. Super Rugby: 2024, 3 games; 2025, none; 2026, 5. Figures are from Kerry Geertson's NZ Rugby History records to 2025 and RugbyPass for 2026; the two sources agree for every season they share. Otago won the Ranfurly Shield on 20 September 2025 with Wingham named at tighthead.