The Waihi Whippet's trophy-laden route to All Blacks Sevens debut

When Fletcher Morgan represents the All Blacks Sevens, he wears number 97 on his back. It’s a tribute to his dairy farming parents, Paul and Denise, who raised him in Frankton Road, Waihi.

Hard work and perseverance were values instilled in the affable, unpretentious 25-year-old from a young age, and at last the “Waihi Whippet” who’s won three senior club titles in three different cities, a Meads Cup, a National Under-19 title and the Ranfurly Shield has broken through by earning a long-sought-after national call-up.

“I’m bloody stoked, overwhelmed actually to be representing such a prestigious team,” Morgan told RugbyPass.

“I’m not going to lie, there were a few tears shed with my parents and partner, Shenay. I’m going to try to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge as I can from the older boys.

“We had a good pre-season. We dropped our first game against Samoa but won the next two. We didn’t lose against Fiji and Australia, with the worst result being a draw in one of three games against Australia.

“There’s a fair bit of determination to do better than last year. Seventh isn’t an acceptable result for this team. I think we’ve got a good mix of youth and experience to change that.”

The All Blacks Sevens confirmed that sentiment by winning the opening round of SVNS in Dubai. New Zealand hadn’t won a cup tournament since May 2024 in Singapore. The All Blacks Sevens were the only unbeaten team in a wild tournament that saw both the 2024/25 league and Grand final winners Argentina and South Africa finish outside the top four.

En route to their eighth title in Dubai and first since 2018, the All Blacks Sevens beat Great Britain (21-14), Spain (24-7), Australia (21-17), Fiji (24-21), and Australia (26-22). Morgan started in the win over Great Britain and was used off the bench for the rest of the tournament.

“In fifteens, I’m typically a winger, though I’ve played a lot midfield recently which has been helpful because you’re closer to the ball and it requires different skills than being on the edge,” Morgan said.

“In the All Blacks Sevens, I’m a prop. Pushing in the scrums and lifting in the lineouts has been pretty interesting. I guess my role is to work hard and if chances arise, take them.”

Morgan certainly took his chances in the NPC with Southland. On debut in a famous comeback 29-22 win over Manawatu, he scored the winning try with a chip and chase from halfway.

“That was my first and only touch,” Morgan laughed.

“It’s satisfying when you plan for something, and it comes off. We’d practised kicking into certain areas of space because we’d studied the movements of their back three. When I got the ball, a favourable picture presented itself. Still, I didn’t quite expect it to come off the way it did.”

Things only got better. Six days later, Southland beat Bay of Plenty for the first time since 2016, and then on August 31, the Stags stunned Waikato 25-10 in Hamilton to claim the Ranfurly Shield for the first time since 2011. Waikato, featuring four All Blacks—Anton Lienert-Brown, Luke Jacobson, Ollie Norris, and Samipeni Finau—were humbled by the determined and clinical visitors, who achieved three NPC wins in a row for the first time since 2013.

“It was awesome to do it in Waikato against a lot of my mates. I went to Hamilton Boys’. In 2017, we won the Super 8. In 2024, I played for Marist, and we won the Breweries Shield, all 15 games, so I know a lot of those boys,” Morgan enthused.

“It was one of those rare games where we executed everything and dominated.

“The celebration was wild. I expected a few people to show up at the airport. The whole place was packed. The whole community wanted a piece of it. It was huge. I’ve not experienced anything like it, and I doubt I will again.”

Earlier in the year, Morgan had helped Woodlands win the Galbraith Shield. In one game against 2024 champions Star, he scored four tries and 36 points. In the final against Pirates Old Boys, who Woodlands had previously lost to 31-12, Morgan scored a try in a 40-30 win that marked a tenth Galbraith Shield victory for legendary 47-year-old hooker Jason “Cabbage” Rutledge.

Morgan thrived alongside Marty McKenzie, a Ranfurly Shield winner with Southland in 2011 and NPC champion with Taranaki in 2014, whose brother is All Black Damian McKenzie. Marty is also related to Grant, Gordon, and Brent McKenzie, as well as Maori All Black Robbie Robinson, all of whom played for Southland.

“Marty sees things before they happen. He tips you off with a hand signal or a wink, and sure enough, they happen,” Morgan marvelled.

Morgan had been recognised by Southland after his exploits for Thames Valley in the 2024 Heartland Championship.

In helping the Swapfoxes claim the Meads Cup, Morgan scored 116 of his team’s 249 points. Only eight players have scored a century in a season. The others are Glen Dalgety (102 in 1984 & 111 in 1990), Chris Costello (101 in 1988), David McCullum (104 in 1995), Joe Reynolds (127 in 2011), David Harrison (102 in 2012), Todd Doolan (130 in 2021), and Quinn Collard (154 in 2025).

Morgan, a cousin of the All Blacks Gordon family, earned a scholarship to play rugby and study commerce and supply chain management at Lincoln University after leaving Hamilton Boys’ in 2017.

In 2019, he was part of the Canterbury Under-19 team that won the last Jock Hobbs Memorial Tournament in Taupo. All Blacks prop Fletcher Newell won the Sir John Graham Medal as the player of the tournament.

With Lincoln, he won a senior metro title in 2020, but Canterbury senior honours proved elusive.

“I loved my time in Christchurch. Being there through the Crusaders’ dynasty and around some of the Academy boys gave me an appreciation of their passion for rugby and just how hard and smart they worked,” Morgan said.

Employment with Farm Source in Cambridge took Morgan back north, where his rugby was so good the South wouldn’t let the “Waihi Whippet” go again. He has resigned with Southland for the 2026 NPC.