Saula Ma'u: the Tongan-born tighthead who became All Black No 1242

Saula Ma'u is an All Black, and has been since a Tuesday night in Johannesburg in August, but he has not yet played a Test. The 140-kilogram Highlanders and Otago tighthead became All Black No 1242 when he came off the bench against the Lions on the South Africa tour, and he is one of only two uncapped players in the 36-man squad now in Britain. He is not in the 23 for Scotland on Sunday. This is the story of how a boy from Tonga, slowed for years by injuries, got this far.

From Tonga to Auckland Grammar

Ma'u was born in Tonga on 29 April 2000, according to Wikipedia, and he still talks about home. Asked after his All Blacks debut what his 10-year-old self would make of it, he told reporters: "I think he'll be happy, just running around back in Tonga." When he thanked the people who had helped him that night, he included "my village back home".

He moved to New Zealand as a teenager and enrolled at Auckland Grammar School. RNZ reported in 2024 that he and his Highlanders team-mate Folau Fakatava had both come over from Tonga at 15 or 16. RUGBE could not find a detailed account of his First XV seasons at Grammar, but the Highlanders say he was good enough to be picked for the New Zealand Schools team, in the same side as Sam Darry and Tamaiti Williams. In the Highlanders' player questionnaire he names his favourite rugby player as Jonah Lomu.

Dunedin and the Harbour Hawks

Ma'u's route south came through former Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger, who invited him to Dunedin to train with the franchise, according to Kaniva Tonga. He arrived from Auckland Grammar in 2018 and joined the Harbour club, the Hawks, where he has played his club rugby ever since. The Highlanders said at the time that, at 140 kilograms, he was still considered "a very mobile player".

He spent the next three years training with the Highlanders squad in blocks as part of their high-performance programme, and made his Otago debut in 2019. He played four games for the province that year, all off the bench according to rugbyhistory.co.nz, and scored a try in one of them: a 49-14 Ranfurly Shield defence against North Otago in Oamaru in July.

Early in 2020 he was one of a 52-strong group invited to a New Zealand Under 20 training camp, even though, Kaniva Tonga reported, he would not be eligible for the age-grade side until the following year. Anton Segner, now his All Blacks team-mate, was in the same group. "Saula and Anton are a big part of New Zealand Rugby moving forward," the Under 20 coach, Craig Philpott, said then. Covid cancelled the camp.

The lost years

Then came what the Highlanders' profile calls "a horror run of injuries". A shoulder injury early in 2020 ruled him out of the rest of that provincial season. In 2021 he showed strong form for the Highlanders' development team, then was hurt again playing club rugby, which ended his Otago season. Kaniva Tonga reported that it was a knee injury that cost him most of that year.

The Highlanders kept faith. In September 2021 they upgraded Ma'u and Sean Withy, both graduates of their high-performance programme, to full Super Rugby contracts for 2022. Ma'u, then 21, said it was "a big thing for both myself and my family". He also admitted: "Having injuries over the last few seasons has been hard." Assistant coach Clarke Dermody told the Otago Daily Times that "the upper ceiling on these guys is quite high".

Highlanders

Ma'u became Highlander No 317 when he made his debut in round three of the 2022 season, against the Hurricanes. He was mostly used off the bench at first: nine games and one start in 2022, then 13 games and one start in 2023, when he scored his first Super Rugby try in a 35-30 home win over the Reds in May.

The 2024 season was his breakthrough. He started eight of his 15 games, scored in a 35-21 win over Moana Pasifika in February, and on 4 May started at tighthead in the first Super Rugby match played in Tonga, against Moana Pasifika at Teufaiva Sport Stadium in Nuku'alofa. RNZ reported that it was only the second time his parents had watched him play professionally. More than 10,000 people watched in heavy rain as the Highlanders won 28-17. Captain Billy Harmon said of the side's Tongan players that "it meant a lot to them", and RNZ's Pacific sport wrap said Ma'u and Fakatava had shown "a lot of grit and determination" on home soil.

He started 11 of his 14 games in 2025 and reached 50 appearances for the club. Kaniva Tonga reported in August 2026 that he had started 20 of his previous 24 matches for the Highlanders when available. By then Wikipedia credited him with 58 Super Rugby games for the club.

Otago

Ma'u's provincial career followed the same stop-start pattern. After the lost seasons he returned for Otago in 2022, and by 2024 he was starting almost every game: nine starts in ten matches, according to rugbyhistory.co.nz. He scored twice in 2023 and once in 2024. He started all five of his games in the 2025 NPC, but in the fifth, a 31-27 loss to Tasman at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on 30 August, he dislocated his right shoulder and was ruled out for the rest of the season. "He brings a real physical presence and his scrumming is first class," Otago coach Mark Brown told the Otago Daily Times. "He was sort of the leader of our physicality." Otago went on to win the Ranfurly Shield in Christchurch and reach the final without him.

The injury carried into 2026. Kaniva Tonga reported that it kept him out of the opening eight rounds of the Super Rugby season. He returned later in the Highlanders' campaign and was back in Otago colours for the start of the 2026 NPC.

All Blacks XV

His first taste of national selection came in October 2024, when he was named in Clayton McMillan's 29-man All Blacks XV squad for a short northern tour. The team beat Munster 38-24 at Thomond Park, and Ma'u was on the bench for the second match, against Georgia in Montpellier on 10 November, which the All Blacks XV won 31-13 to finish the tour unbeaten.

All Black No 1242

In August 2026 the All Blacks were on their eight-match "Greatest Rivalry" tour of South Africa, and injuries were piling up. When loosehead Ollie Norris hurt his knee, Ma'u was called in as his replacement. He had played three NPC games for Otago that month. The Otago Daily Times described him at the time as "one of the strongest scrummagers in New Zealand".

A week later he was named at 18 for the midweek match against the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, played on 25 August (26 August NZ time). The Lions led 14-0 early and 35-17 in the second half. Ma'u came on in the 60th minute, joining fellow replacements Bradley Slater and Xavier Numia in a new front row, and the ODT reported that he made a sprawling tackle within seconds and held his own in the tight. The All Blacks scored the last 24 points to win 41-35.

Because the All Blacks count tour matches when they number their players, that 20 minutes made him All Black No 1242. Afterwards he was close to tears. "A couple of weeks ago I was back at home playing for Otago," he told reporters, and two weeks later he was playing for the All Blacks. He thanked his family and said: "Hopefully I made them proud." Asked what he would do with his first black jersey, he joked: "Probably going to sleep with it tonight."

He did not play in any of the four Tests against the Springboks, and was back with Otago by mid-September. He scored in a 50-21 win over Counties Manukau in September and again in the quarter-final, a 50-14 win over Hawke's Bay in Dunedin on 10 October. Otago's season ended a week later with a 38-19 semi-final loss to Northland in Whangarei.

Into the squad

On 27 October Dave Rennie named Ma'u in the 36-man squad for the Nations Championship tour of Scotland, Wales and England. It was the first time he had been named in an All Blacks squad, rather than called in as injury cover, and he and Chiefs first five-eighth Josh Jacomb are the only members without a Test cap. Rennie welcomed him back alongside George Bell, Leicester Fainga'anuku, Christian Lio-Willie, Jamie Hannah and Chay Fihaki, saying: "They have all shown fantastic form during the NPC."

Where he is now

Ma'u is one of six props in the touring party and is not in the match-day 23 for the Test against Scotland at Murrayfield, which kicks off at 3.10am on Sunday 8 November NZ time. Wales in Cardiff and England at Twickenham follow, then the Nations Championship finals weekend in London. If he is picked for any of them, he will win his first Test cap.

Career at a glance

Provincial and Super Rugby figures are from Wikipedia (updated 19 August 2026) and rugbyhistory.co.nz. Ma'u has no Test caps in RUGBE's All Blacks Test data to 17 October 2026.