Last Wednesday, all 10 Super Rugby clubs announced their 38-man squads for the 2027 season. Then, on Thursday, New Zealand clubs have named their 12-man training squads, confirming the full picture of how the competitive landscape will shape up next season.
In what is a typically mild New Zealand transfer market, there have been some big moves, headlined of course by Ardie Save joining Blues and Richie Mo’unga returning to the Crusaders. On the other hand, Warner Dearns left the Hurricanes, three All Black midfielders left the Crusaders and the Blues lost several club honours.
Now that we’ve sat down with teams and wider training groups for seven days, we can see the big changes and storylines that could define the 2027 season.
Here are six takeaways.
The Highlanders rebuild
Are the Highlanders finally back? After largely failing to fire while navigating massive roster volatility for much of the 2020s to the present, Jamie Joseph’s recruiting over the last three years appears to have finally built a well-rounded team ready to compete.
The main additions are Josh Jacomb and Shannon Frizell, but the 2027 team has more quality and depth all over the park. Ioane Moananu and Bennett Kumeroa will aid the front row, with Patrick Pellegrini a Test-level playmaker and wizard with the boot.
Fabian Holland’s return from injury will add plenty to the tight five and one of New Zealand’s brightest prospects, Dylan Pledger, will have the chance to make his mark in his debut season after an ACL tear ended the 2026 season before it started.
There has also been promotion from within, with young talents such as Josh Tengblad and Mika Muliaina set to get their first Super Rugby minutes after impressive stints with the New Zealand U20s.
Teammates Tavatavanawai and Saula Ma’u are sure to gain a lot from their time with the team All black people this season, and Lucas Casey is in a good position to continue his star performance as a free forward.
Graduates U20
From different positional groups in 2026 New Zealand U20 of the teams, only two have a perfect success rate entering Super Rugby 2027.
Both well-known first five and eight players, Auckland’s Cohen Norrie and Southland’s Mika Muliain, will spend next season with the Blues and Highlanders respectively. Norrie was signed for the Blues’ wider training group during the NPC season and Muliaina was promoted from a National Development Agreement to a full member of the squad aged just 19.
Another area of success is the second row, where all three New Zealand U20 representatives from this year’s squad have been picked up in the wider training groups. Max Fale and Jake Frost signed Crusaders during the NPC season, and Johnny Falloon was drafted by the Hurricanes.
Several other U20 2026 graduates have earned Super Rugby call-ups, but halfback Charlie Sinton, also just 19, has earned his place in the Chiefs’ official squad. Loose forward Caleb Woodley was drafted into the Blues’ extended practice squad, and fellow forward Patrick Mauga was the Hurricanes’ first pick in the draft. Elsewhere, clubs were looking for more established talent.
Miss it
A number of U20 players also put their names forward for the wider training pool draft but missed out on selection. Perhaps the biggest name among the omissions was Waikato loose forward Micah Fale, but teammates David Lewai and JD van der Westhuizen were also overlooked in the draft in favor of established players.
However, a Super Rugby resume is no guarantee of team selection; just ask Jackson Garden-Bachop, who played 68 games with the Hurricanes, Rebels and Pacific Ocean and led Wellington on two NPC titles.
James Arscott and Lewis Ponini featured in different seasons of Super Rugby but remained undrafted, as did New Zealand sevens talents Kitiona Vai and Joe Webber, who has since decided to retire from the Sevens game and successfully returned to the national team.
First-five reconstructions
In an ideal world, each of New Zealand’s best players in each position would be spread evenly across each of the five different ones Super Rugby Pacific clubs, and the best of the rest would also be evenly distributed behind those stars. In 2027, after a rare flurry of transfers, this is exactly the case in the first five-eighths.
Richie Mo’unga returned to the Crusaders, Taha Kemara later left the Crusaders to return home to the Chiefs, and he replaces Josh Jacomb, who moved south for a starting gig at the Highlanders. As a result of Jacomb’s move, Cam Millar headed north to begin an apprenticeship with Beauden Barrett at the Blues, who also lost Stephen Perofeta to Japan.
Meanwhile, Patrick Pellegrini joined the Highlanders as the club also promoted New Zealand U20 playmaker Mika Muliaina to the official squad, and Hurricanes he also brought Harry Godfrey and Brett Cameron back from injury.
After all that movement, the chips have fallen perfectly for New Zealand rugby.
Every club has an All Black No.10. Every club has at least one aspiring playmaker behind that All Black. The scales are as weighted as Dave Rennie could have hoped. And for Super Rugby, it lends credibility to the prospects of all five clubs this season.
Injuries
Unfortunately, the four players announced in New Zealand’s 2027 squad will either miss the entire season through injury or have cover during what are expected to be extended absences.
Jermaine Ainsley’s return to the Highlanders has been put on hold after a shoulder injury sustained while playing for Canterbury two months ago. The club called up Southland prop Jack Sexton as cover. Sexton played six games for the Crusaders last season.
Tamaiti Williams is making progress in her ongoing recovery from a back infection, posting footage of herself back in the gym and running on social media. However, his timeline remains unconfirmed, and in the meantime, the Crusaders have called up Cléments Castets. The 30-year-old Frenchman played four seasons for him Toulouse and four more with Paris in the Top 14, with several titles in the process. He recently spent the NPC season in Hawke’s Bay.
Tyrone Thompson from Bosses and the Hurricanes’ Ngani Punivai are expected to miss next season with injuries, but no injury protection has been named for them.
Meanwhile, perhaps the most intriguing injury story in the team names is the lack of an asterisk next to Caleb Tangitau’s name in the Highlanders’ squad. The All Black-in-waiting ruptured his Achilles in round 14 of the 2026 season, an injury that will require approximately 12 months of rehabilitation. His recovery will be watched ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Moana Pasifika migration
Of the former Moana Pasifika players in need of a new home following the club’s dissolution this year, eight have moved on to other Super Rugby clubs.
Tonga playmaker Patrick Pellegrini joined the Highlanders alongside exSamoa Tuna Tuitama’s sevens, while Tongan prop Paula Latu joined the Chiefs and promising Manawatu Crusaders have snapped up solid prop Feleti Sae-Ta’ufo’ou. Veikoso Poloniati was the only one to cross the ditch to join the Waratahs.
However, the Hurricanes came away with the most Moana talent, led by new loose All Black forward Semisi Ta’eiloa. Prop Tito Tuipulotu and lock Ale Aho also headed south from Albany to the Kiwi capital.
