Stat chat: One Super Rugby-leading stat from every new All Black

Five new faces have been rewarded for exceptional 2025 Super Rugby Pacific campaigns with All Blacks call-ups, and each has the stats to validate their respective inclusions.

Scott Robertson has rewarded physicality and accuracy, with each of the five prospects boasting strong numbers in their core roles.

All but one of the newcomers are over the age of 25, with Fabian Holland at 22 the exception. Timoci Tavatavanawai is the only new back selected and the only player who hasn’t represented the All Blacks XV. Brodie McAlister, Fabian Holland and Du’Plessis Kirifi were all called into the All Blacks as injury cover late last year after impressing with the Kiwi development team.

Two Chiefs, two Highlanders, and one Hurricane make up the 2025 rookie class, and each will be determined to see their club rugby form translate to the international stage.

Here are some numbers that the newbies led Super Rugby Pacific with in 2025.

Brodie McAlister: 107.1

The biggest surprise in the 2025 All Blacks squad, McAlister is 2.5 times as likely to make a dominant tackle as he is to miss a tackle.

Only Jack Taylor of the Highlanders has a higher dominant tackle rate among Kiwi hookers, but McAlister is nearly five per cent more accurate on the defensive side of the ball than the young Southlander.

McAlister tackles at 95.9 per cent, which places him in the top dozen of Super Rugby players for tackle accuracy. Unlike the Chiefs’ hitman, half of those players with better numbers benefit from having less than 50 tackle attempts on the season.

When you combine that tackle percentage of 95.9 and the 28-year-old’s dominant hit percentage of 11.2, McAlister is second to none among forwards in Super Rugby Pacific. A niche stat, but that combined 107.1 figure represents the accuracy and power in the bolter’s game.

Fixture

Internationals

New Zealand

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France

All Stats and Data

Ollie Norris: 97.2

Ollie Norris didn’t always start for the Chiefs, but he did play the most minutes at loosehead prop for the minor premiers and so handled the bulk of the scrummaging this season.

Through the challenges of elite props and powerhouse packs, the Chiefs maintained a 97.2 per cent success rate with their scrums in 2025. That is better than any other side in Super Rugby Pacific, the URC, Top 14 or Gallagher Premiership. The Chiefs also won the most scrums via penalty in Super Rugby.

Around the park, Norris was New Zealand’s third most accurate prop on defence and had as many breakdown steals as any of his Kiwi counterparts.

Fabian Holland: 204

The young Dutchman led Super Rugby Pacific’s regular season in some big areas, demonstrating the kind of muscle the All Blacks have just added to their engine room.

The 22-year-old had the most total tackles in the competition’s regular season with 204, and the most dominant tackles with 20 – a tally that impressively still leads Super Rugby after the playoffs.

The 204 cm lock led all Kiwi counterparts in lineout steals with seven, no doubt aided by his big frame, which makes him the tallest player in Scott Robertson’s squad.

The monster second-rower has just 34 Super Rugby games under his belt, but was named Man of the Match in his All Blacks XV debut last year in a win over Munster. He then went on to join the All Blacks as injury cover, leaving a lasting impression on coaches and players alike.

Tupou Vaa’i shared his first impressions of the lock soon after he joined camp in France.

“Man, he’s a big unit. He’s real skilful, real fast, explosive. He’s going to be real dangerous in the future, I can see that now. Hopefully, we can suit up together sometime in the future and go to work,” Vaa’i told media in Turin.

Du’Plessis Kirifi: 242

What do you want from an openside flanker? Tackles and breakdown steals. So, look no further than the Hurricanes’ co-captain.

When you combine Kirifi’s season tally in both departments, he is head and shoulders above anyone else in Super Rugby Pacific. No one services both needs with the consistency and productivity of Kirifi.

The 220 tackles made this season were the second most by any player, eclipsed only by Christian Lio-Willie, who only took the lead in that metric in the final. Kirifi was also second-best in breakdown steals, pinching 22 balls in 15 appearances.

Fraser McReight got closest to Kirifi’s combined tackle/steal tally, with 213. That’s a player who looked like one of the best opensides on the planet throughout 2024, still trailing by a wide margin.

Timoci Tavatavanawai: 78

The only man to steal more balls (25) at the breakdown than Kirifi was playing in the midfield. Not only that, it was his first season playing in the midfield.

Big ‘Jim the Difference’ certainly made his presence felt for the Highlanders, inheriting a co-captaincy role while shifting from his familiar wing position.

The Fijian-born bruiser also ran away with the title for most defenders beaten in Super Rugby, with his total tally of 78 beating the next-best player, Damian McKenzie, by 14. The 27-year-old ran up the stats sheet thanks to 163 carries into contact, the most of any back in the competition.