Tupou Vaa'i: from building fences in lockdown to the first All Black born in the 2000s

In the autumn of 2020, during the Covid lockdown, Tupou Vaa'i was at home in Auckland building timber fences with his father. He did not have a Super Rugby contract. Within six months he had played every game of the Chiefs' season, been named in Ian Foster's first All Blacks squad and become the first All Black born in the 2000s. Six years on he has 53 Tests, has started at both lock and blindside flanker for New Zealand, and is 12 games short of 100 for the Chiefs.

Where he comes from

Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i was born in Auckland on 27 January 2000, one of nine children in a Tongan family. His parents had moved to New Zealand from the small island of 'Eua in the 1990s in search of a better life, and they worked hard to provide it: his father built fences and his mother worked in a factory, the family told 1News in 2020.

There was loss early on. His only older brother drowned in a creek when Tupou was a small boy. He has spoken about it openly, telling the Guardian in 2024 that it has "given me a 'why' for what I do". He treats the younger players in his team as younger brothers, which he called "a good way to show my love for my brother". "I've been through some dark places," he said the day after his All Blacks selection, "and I guess that was good for me."

His first taste of a Rugby World Cup came at 11. His mother was given a ticket through her work to the bronze final at Eden Park in 2011, when Australia beat Wales 21-18, and she passed it to him, drove him to the ground, waited outside until the final whistle and drove him home. "Your parents do anything for you," he said in 2023, still emotional at the memory.

East Tamaki and Wesley College

He played his early rugby at the East Tamaki club. As a boy he was a prop, and he was bullied for his size, 1News reported in 2020. He caught the eye of the former All Black Eric Rush, who backed his application to Wesley College.

Wesley, the school that produced Jonah Lomu, gave him a target. "A lot of All Blacks came out of Wesley," he told the Guardian. Walking past the old jerseys in the dining room was the motivation: "I didn't just want to be another number." He grew into a 1.98m lock, became head prefect and captained the First XV in his final year, and his First XV coach was the first to plant the idea that he could be an All Black. He was picked for the New Zealand Barbarians Schools side in 2016 and for New Zealand Schools in 2017.

Taranaki and the under 20s

After school he signed with Taranaki, and he plays his club rugby for New Plymouth HSOB. In 2018, aged 18, he made his provincial debut off the bench against Auckland. A year later he played six games for New Zealand Under 20 at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Argentina, where New Zealand finished seventh after beating Ireland 40-17 in their final match. On Wikipedia's count he has played 16 games for Taranaki.

Fences, then the Chiefs

At the start of 2020 Vaa'i was not on the Chiefs' contracted list. Then the Covid shutdown came, and with it the fence building. When rugby returned as Super Rugby Aotearoa, the Chiefs were short of locks, with Michael Allardice and Laghlan McWhannell out for the season and Naitoa Ah Kuoi injured. Vaa'i made his debut against the Highlanders in Dunedin and played all seven of the Chiefs' games. The team did not win one of them, but he was picked for the North Island in the North v South match and the Chiefs extended his contract through to 2023.

The first All Black of the 2000s

In September 2020 Foster named him in his first All Blacks squad. The video of Vaa'i ringing home with the news, on Father's Day, spread quickly online. "There were a lot of tears," he recalled, tears of joy and of relief that the hard work had paid off.

He made his Test debut on 11 October 2020 in Wellington, replacing Patrick Tuipulotu with five minutes left of a 16-16 draw with Australia. On RUGBE's records, which carry the birth dates of every All Black, he was the first player born in 2000 or later to play a Test for New Zealand. A week later, with Sam Whitelock stood down with concussion symptoms, he started at Eden Park in a 27-7 win, and on 7 November in Brisbane he came off the bench and scored his first Test try in the 78th minute of a 24-22 loss. He finished his first season with four Tests.

An injury kept him out of the 2021 home Tests, but in the Rugby Championship he started against Argentina in Brisbane on 18 September 2021, played all 80 minutes and scored twice in a 36-13 win, still his best scoring day for New Zealand. Later that year he started against the United States in Washington, a 104-14 win, and against Italy in Rome. In 2022 he played seven more Tests, six of them off the bench, starting against Japan at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Learning from Retallick

At the Chiefs he became a regular starter from 2021, and his apprenticeship was served beside Brodie Retallick. The All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan made the link in 2024: "Tupou Vaa'i is exceptional, he's calling the Chiefs lineout," Ryan said, adding that Retallick had set him up.

The Chiefs reached the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa final, which they lost 24-13 to the Crusaders in Christchurch with Vaa'i starting at lock. In 2023 they topped the table and lost only once in the regular season before the final in Hamilton, where Vaa'i and Retallick started together in front of 25,000 people and the Crusaders won 25-20. "I still can't repay the sacrifices that my parents and my family have done," he told RNZ Pacific that week.

A World Cup in France

Vaa'i was one of the locks in Foster's 33 for the 2023 World Cup. He was named on the bench for the opening match against France in Paris, but when Sam Cane withdrew late he started at blindside flanker, a 27-13 defeat. He came off the bench against Namibia in Toulouse and started at lock against Uruguay in Lyon, a 73-0 win. There was a small Wesley College reunion in the opener: he, Nepo Laulala and France's Uini Atonio were all old boys of the school.

Starting every week

Scott Robertson's first season as coach, 2024, was the one in which Vaa'i became a fixture. Injuries to Scott Barrett and Tuipulotu opened the way, and he started all six Rugby Championship Tests, including both against the Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and started against England, Ireland and France on the November tour. He played 13 Tests in the year, more than in any other, ten of them as a starter.

"Tupou's been exceptional," Ryan told The Aotearoa Rugby Pod that October, putting it down to "his homework and his preparation". Vaa'i himself told the Guardian before Twickenham that starting had "really built my confidence", and that his aim was clear: "I definitely want to be a great All Black." At the 2024 New Zealand Rugby Awards he was one of three finalists for All Blacks Player of the Year, with Tyrel Lomax and his Chiefs team-mate Wallace Sititi, who won it.

The Chiefs had reached the 2024 final too, losing 41-10 to the Blues at Eden Park.

Leader, and a knee

In 2025 he captained the Chiefs for the first time, against the Brumbies and the Fijian Drua, and in May he re-signed with the club and New Zealand Rugby through to the end of 2027. "The Chiefs is home to me," he said. Head coach Clayton McMillan said he had "developed into a true leader", and NZR's Chris Lendrum described him as entering "the absolute prime of his career". The season ended with a third straight final, and a third straight loss, 16-12 to the Crusaders in Christchurch.

Robertson used him at blindside flanker for the July series against France, and he scored in both Tests he played, a 31-27 win in Dunedin and a 43-17 win in Wellington. One of those tries against France was later shortlisted for World Rugby's men's Try of the Year. He stayed at blindside for both Tests in Argentina, then moved back to lock against the Springboks at Eden Park and in Wellington and against Australia at Eden Park. Then, in training before the Rugby Championship finale in Perth, he hurt his right knee. Fabian Holland took his place in the side, and the injury turned out to be a torn meniscus that needed surgery. His 2025 season was over, and he missed the northern tour.

2026: lock, blindside and another final

The Chiefs reached their fourth final in a row in 2026, Vaa'i starting at lock against the Hurricanes in Wellington, but on a windy night the Hurricanes won 60-5, the biggest winning margin in a Super Rugby final. Counting the 2021 Aotearoa decider, he has started five finals for the Chiefs and lost them all.

A concussion kept him out of Dave Rennie's first Test as All Blacks coach, against France in Christchurch. He returned the following week at lock beside Sam Darry against Italy in Wellington and scored in a 47-17 win. For the Ireland Test at Eden Park, Rennie moved him to blindside flanker in what 1News called a "super-sized" pack, with three locks in the starting side, and the All Blacks won 40-21.

On the tour of South Africa he started all four Tests against the Springboks, at blindside in the 33-16 win at Ellis Park, at lock in Cape Town and at FNB Stadium in Soweto, and at blindside again in Baltimore, and he also played in the 54-0 win over the Sharks in Durban. In the Bledisloe Cup he wore the No 6 jersey in both Tests, scoring in the 50-19 win at Eden Park on 10 October and starting the 43-21 win in Sydney a week later.

Style and standing

The coaches who have worked with him talk most about his lineout brain and his preparation. Ryan has twice called him "exceptional" in public and has pointed to the influence of Retallick, Whitelock, Barrett and Tuipulotu. Vaa'i says the same, telling the Guardian that the old locks talked about "leaving the jersey in a better place" and that he is chasing the same thing. Three All Blacks coaches, Foster, Robertson and Rennie, have started him at blindside flanker, and when Rennie did it against Ireland, 1News pointed to the height he added to the lineout.

His family remain his biggest supporters, known as some of the noisiest in Super Rugby; he told the Guardian he can hear his cousins screaming as he runs out. "I've told them a few times to turn it down a bit," he said. His father's advice, he said, is always the same: remember where you come from. He has a young family of his own, and says they are settled and happy at the Chiefs.

Where he is now

Vaa'i, 26, is in Edinburgh with the All Blacks on the Nations Championship tour of Scotland, Wales and England. Rennie has named him to start at blindside flanker against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday 7 November (3.10am Sunday NZ time), with Peter Lakai at openside and Wallace Sititi at No 8. It will be his 54th Test. In 2027 he will be back with the Chiefs, chasing his 100th game for the club and, with the World Cup in Australia at the end of the year, a second tournament in black.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026. Taranaki and Under 20 figures are from Wikipedia, updated October 2026; the Chiefs total is from the club's 2027 squad announcement.