Rory Taylor: seven tries in his first NPC season, and a Blues contract at 24

At the start of 2026 Rory Taylor was a property valuer who played his rugby for the North Shore club in Devonport. By October he had started every one of North Harbour's 11 NPC games, scored seven tries in his first provincial season and signed a two-year contract with the Blues. "I didn't think I'd be sitting here at this point of my life," he said when the deal was announced. This is the story of how a North Shore club wing got there.

Rosmini and the Blues Under 18s

Taylor was born on 16 July 2002 and is a product of Rosmini College on Auckland's North Shore. The Blues have recorded that he first wore their colours as a Blues Under 18 representative while he was in Year 12.

By 2020 he was a co-captain of the Rosmini First XV. The Rangitoto Observer listed him among the try-scorers when Rosmini beat Takapuna Grammar 31-5 at home on 18 July 2020.

Northcote, then North Shore

After school he played colts rugby for the Northcote club in 2021, the club's records show, and then moved to North Shore, the Devonport club known as "the Pride". The club was in the middle of a long run of success: RugbyPass reported in August 2026 that North Shore had won 75 of 82 games since 2021, including 35 in a row at one stage.

Taylor was playing centre in 2023. On 8 July 2023 he scored after 16 minutes of a 20-15 North Harbour premier semi-final win over his old club Northcote at Vauxhall Road, the Devonport Flagstaff reported, and North Shore went on to win that year's title. They won it again in 2024, beating Takapuna 20-15 in the final at Vauxhall Road on 20 July 2024 with Taylor in the starting XV.

The 2025 season brought the "threepeat". Taylor scored in a 60-5 semi-final win over East Coast Bays at Vauxhall Road on 12 July 2025, and a week later, on 19 July 2025, North Shore beat Takapuna 33-15 in the final in front of a crowd the Flagstaff estimated at 2500 to 3000, one of the biggest seen at the ground. Taylor, by then on the wing, scored at least twice. With Takapuna still in the game at 26-15, it was "a runaway try by Shore winger Rory Taylor", the Flagstaff wrote, that "put the game beyond doubt". It was the club's third North Harbour title in succession, and Taylor earned his North Shore blazer for 25 premier appearances along the way.

Away from rugby, he was building a career as a property valuer.

North Harbour

North Harbour had finished the 2025 NPC with one win from ten games. For 2026 the union went local: when it named its 39-man squad on 22 July 2026, 20 of the players were new caps and 18 of those had come through the North Harbour premier club competition, provincial.rugby reported. "North Shore outside back Rory Taylor" was one of them. North Harbour said club form had been the deciding factor for most of the new contracts.

Taylor started on the wing in the opening game, a 31-29 loss to Tasman at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on 31 July 2026, and kept his place for the whole season: RugbyPass counted 11 starts from 11 games. His first try came six days later, on 6 August 2026, just before half-time in a 59-19 win over Counties Manukau at North Harbour Stadium. RugbyPass reported that he gained more metres than any other player that night, with four line breaks and ten tackles.

The tries kept coming. He scored in a 27-19 win over Auckland at North Harbour Stadium on 22 August 2026, a 57-42 win over Northland at the same ground on 6 September 2026 and a 32-21 win over Otago there on 26 September 2026. He scored again in a 38-21 loss to Bay of Plenty at Tauranga Domain on 4 October 2026, and twice, in the second and 34th minutes, in the quarter-final against Taranaki at North Harbour Stadium on 10 October 2026, which Taranaki won 50-31.

His seven tries put him joint fourth on the competition's try-scoring list. RugbyPass's season numbers had him in the top ten in the NPC for tries, clean breaks (23), defenders beaten (44) and metres gained (1,039). North Harbour went from one win in 2025 to six in 2026 and finished fourth after the round robin.

The Blues

In October 2026 the Blues signed him on a two-year contract from 2027. Taylor said it had been "a dream of mine to play for the Blues" since he was a young boy, and added: "I just want to rip in."

Blues general manager of rugby Murray Williams said: "He's got real pace, he's a natural finisher." He added that Taylor works hard off the ball. The Blues' general manager of rugby also pointed to the path Taylor had taken through Rosmini, the Blues Under 18s and club rugby at North Shore. "He's a great example of what the pathway in our region can do," he said.

Style and standing

Taylor is listed at 1.89m and 96kg. He started his premier career at centre and made his name on the wing, and the descriptions of him are about speed and finishing: the Blues called him "electric" and a "speedster" in announcing his signing, and the Blues' general manager of rugby singled out his pace. He scored at least three tries across the 2025 club semi-final and final, then seven in 11 NPC games.

He has not played Test rugby for any country.

Where he is now

On 28 October 2026 the Blues named Taylor in their 2027 squad, joining Caleb Clarke and Cody Vai on the wing, with Darby Lancaster, Payton Spencer and his North Harbour team-mate Kade Banks also among the outside backs. "Rory has earned his opportunity through his performances for North Harbour," head coach Jason Holland said. The squad assembles at Blues headquarters in late November 2026, and Taylor's Super Rugby debut is still to come.

Career at a glance

North Harbour figures are from the 2026 NPC match records; RugbyPass counts 11 starts. The North Shore appearance count is the 25-game club blazer figure given by the Blues.