All Black Noah Hotham on New Zealand’s ‘stacked’ depth at halfback

One-Test All Black Noah Hotham is a fan favourite to make the next Test squad at halfback, but selection is far from guaranteed with multiple contenders capturing headlines on the back of their strong form in Super Rugby Pacific.

Hotham entered the international arena for the first time 10 months ago, coming off the bench against Fiji in San Diego, and the halfback is “eager” for more minutes in the black jersey. Cam Roigard and Cortez Ratima are also strong contenders to make the grade in the next squad.

Legendary All Black Aaron Smith recently told RugbyPass that New Zealand is “very blessed at halfback” with Roigard, Ratima and Hotham leading that charge. Finlay Christie and Sam Nock were also mentioned, and they aren’t the only other players in the mix.

After two standout seasons with the Wellington Lions in New Zealand’s NPC, Kyle Preston made the move south by joining the Crusaders ahead of the 2025 season. Following an early injury to Hotham, Preston came on as a replacement in round one and quickly made some noise.

Preston scored a hat-trick of tries on debut against the Hurricanes in Christchurch, and backed that up with another five-pointer away to the Chiefs. Folau Fakatava and Nathan Hastie have also performed well for the Highlanders, and Xavier Roe has been solid at the Chiefs.

In the years to come, current New Zealand U20 halfback Dylan Pledger could very well make an impact at Super Rugby level. Smith was right, the All Blacks really do seem to be “blessed” with plenty of options to choose from and consider in the years ahead.

“Real stacked. Lots of young boys too, they’ve got big futures ahead of them too,” Hotham told RugbyPass a couple of weeks ago in Sydney when asked about New Zealand’s depth at halfback.

“You’ve just got to do your best with where you are, make sure you are where your feet are and continue to compete and do your best for the team.”

Preston held down the fort as the Crusaders’ starting No. 9 while Hotham was sidelined with an unfortunate high ankle sprain, but the All Black has since reclaimed that role in the run-on side, standing out as a consistent performer.

Hotham returned via the bench in a round six win away win over the Blues in Auckland, and has since started the last seven matches on the bounce. In that period, Hotham scored one try against the Fijian Drua in a clinical 31-14 win in Suva.

Tevita Ikanivere and Frank Lomani were among those who featured for the Drua in that match, who had also played for the Flying Fijians against the All Blacks on July 20, 2023. That was Hotham’s first taste of Test match rugby, and the halfback wants more.

“Crazy, everything I’ve dreamt of,” Hotham reflected.

“It was a little bit different. A foreign place, I’d never been to America before, versing Fiji too was real special but unfortunately my family couldn’t be there because they were over [in Paris for the Olympics] watching [sister] Jasmine [Felix-Hotham].

“It was one of those ones where you’re kind of numb to it because I came on so early… It’s crazy, man, just eager.”

While All Blacks honours could very well be around the corner, the 22-year-old is firmly focused on this season with the Crusaders. After an uncharacteristically poor campaign in 2024, the Crusaders are back among the elite as a genuine title contender.

With one round left, the Crusaders are still in the race to finish first, but they need the Chiefs to lose their round-robin finale away to the Highlanders in Dunedin. They also need to beat the Brumbies in Canberra, which is a battle between second and third on the ladder.

Hotham spoke with RugbyPass the day before the Crusaders’ big win over the NSW Waratahs in Sydney, but these comments remain just as important. Performing well for the Crusaders is the key to the door for future All Blacks honours.

“You’ve got to be where your feet are… making sure that you’re doing the best for your team, which is just trying to make sure that you do the best in the red and black jersey so that we have a successful campaign here,” he added.

“Worry about that down the line.”