TK Howden: Super Rugby's tackle leader after 14 rounds and the Highlanders' 2026 Forward of the Year

After 14 rounds of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, the Highlanders said, no player in the competition had completed more tackles than their blindside flanker, and he had made 92 per cent of the ones he attempted. TK Howden, Te Kamaka to the Highlanders, was named the club's Forward of the Year and Defender of the Year in May 2026. The Feilding loose forward has played 58 games for Manawatū, 41 in Super Rugby for the Hurricanes and Highlanders and six for the Māori All Blacks, has toured Europe with the All Blacks XV, and is in the Highlanders' squad for 2027.

Where he comes from

Howden was born in Feilding on 28 January 2001 and is of Ngāi Tūhoe descent. He plays his club rugby for Feilding Yellows and went to Feilding High School, the same school as his Highlanders team-mate Jona Nareki.

In September 2019, his last year at school, he was named in the New Zealand Schools' Barbarians team, one of 50 players from 29 schools picked after the First XV finals in Palmerston North. The Barbarians were coached by Gus Leger, and the squad included Jamie Hannah of Christchurch Boys' High School, who would pack down beside Howden in an All Blacks XV second row six years later.

Manawatū

Howden went straight from school into the Manawatū Turbos side in 2020. The NZ Rugby profile on allblacks.com says he was "in the thick of the action for Manawatū every week" in his first season. In April 2021 he was in the Hurricanes squad at the first Super Rugby Aotearoa Under 20 tournament in Taupō, where the Hurricanes noted his provincial experience, and he was then named in the New Zealand Under 20 squad for 2021. With the national side's overseas fixtures cancelled because of Covid-19, he played a domestic programme; Wikipedia credits him with four Under 20 appearances.

Tries took a while to arrive. His first came in his fourth provincial season, in the seventh minute of a 31-30 win over Northland at Arena Manawatu in Palmerston North on 25 August 2023. Five days later he scored again as Manawatū beat Auckland 33-31 at Eden Park on 30 August 2023, and he finished that season with three. He scored four in 2024, including one against Tasman at Central Energy Trust Arena on 11 August 2024 and one against Counties Manukau at the Massey University Sport and Events Centre on 5 October 2024. In 2025 he scored in a 38-28 win over Wellington at Central Energy Trust Arena on 24 August 2025 and against Counties Manukau at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe on 28 September 2025, and in 2026 he scored on the stroke of half-time against Waikato at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on 19 September 2026. Across seven seasons he has played 58 games for Manawatū and scored 10 tries.

The Hurricanes

The Hurricanes named Howden in their squad for 2022, and he made his Super Rugby debut against the Crusaders at Sky Stadium in Wellington on 9 April 2022, a 24-21 loss. He played seven games that season, seven in 2023 and three in 2024, for 17 in all.

The Māori All Blacks

In those years he also pulled on a different black jersey. On 29 June 2022 Howden made his Māori All Blacks debut off the bench at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton as they beat Ireland 32-17 in front of 9,253 people, during Ireland's tour of New Zealand. He came on again in the second match against the Irish at Sky Stadium on 12 July 2022, which Ireland won 30-24.

He was back for the Māori All Blacks' tour of Japan in 2024, coming off the bench in a 36-10 win over a Japan XV at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on 29 June 2024 and starting at blindside flanker in the second match at Toyota Stadium on 6 July 2024, which the Japan XV won 26-14. In 2025, his third year in the side according to the Highlanders, he started at No. 6 against Scotland at Semenoff Stadium in Whangārei on 5 July 2025, a 29-26 loss. Wikipedia credits him with six Māori All Blacks appearances.

The Highlanders

For 2025 Howden moved south to the Highlanders, along with his Hurricanes team-mate Veveni Lasaqa. His first game for his new club was a 31-29 win over Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Albany on 28 February 2025. The ODT's Hayden Meikle wrote that he was a little slower to get going as he reached full fitness, but by the end of the season he was "an automatic starter on the blindside". He played 11 games in his first season.

In June 2025 the Highlanders re-signed him and Lasaqa through 2027. Head coach Jamie Joseph called Howden "tough, driven, and a real competitor" and said: "Te Kamaka is a big part of that vision." Chief executive Roger Clark described the pair as "great young men with the mindset we value".

The All Blacks XV

At the end of 2025 Howden was one of six loose forwards in Jamie Joseph's 30-man All Blacks XV squad for three matches in Europe. On 8 November 2025, against England A at the Recreation Ground in Bath, he started at lock alongside Jamie Hannah, his Barbarians Schools team-mate from 2019. The All Blacks XV won 31-14; allblacks.com's report credited Howden with three lineout wins and nine tackles, and named him among the players involved in Folau Fakatava's late try. The tour ended unbeaten, with wins over the Barbarians in London and Uruguay in Béziers.

Forward of the Year

In the 2026 opener on 13 February 2026, a 25-23 win over the defending champion Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, the club said the loose forward trio of Howden, Sean Withy and Lucas Casey was "relentless around the park". He started at blindside and covered lock when required, as he did against the Blues at Eden Park on 17 April 2026, when the ODT described him as one of the Highlanders' most consistent performers in recent weeks.

At the Highlanders' awards evening at the University of Otago Business School on 19 May 2026 he won two of the major awards, Forward of the Year and Defender of the Year. The club said he had started virtually every match, played more minutes than any other Highlander, and after 14 rounds led the whole competition for tackles completed with a 92 per cent success rate. He played 13 games in 2026, taking his Highlanders total to 24. He has not yet scored a Super Rugby try in 41 games.

Style and standing

The Highlanders call him "a defensive colossus and a key figure in the lineout", and his move between blindside and lock is part of that. Asked by the club for the best advice he has received, he chose: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." His favourite player is Jerome Kaino.

Where he is now

Howden has not played a Test. He is one of eight loose forwards in the Highlanders' 2027 squad named on 28 October 2026, with a contract running through the 2027 season, and the club says he will be looking to match his 2026 work rate. The Highlanders assemble on 26 November 2026 and open the 2027 season against the Fijian Drua in Fiji on 13 February 2027.

Career at a glance

Highlanders figures are from Wikipedia's list of Highlanders players (last game 23 May 2026). Hurricanes figures are from RugbyPass match records and agree with the Highlanders' profile total of 41 Super Rugby games; Wikipedia's infobox gives 16. Manawatū figures combine Wikipedia's total to 2025 (48 games, 45 points) with RugbyPass's 2026 season data; Wikipedia's match pages credit him with one more try, two rather than one against Counties Manukau on 5 October 2024. Māori All Blacks and Under 20 figures are Wikipedia's.