All Blacks selectors have Otago halfback Dylan Pledger in their sights after brilliant NPC campaign
Sunday, 28 September 2025
Pledger, 20, has transformed Otago in the NPC.
Halfback is yet to play Super Rugby but is emerging as a special talent.
All Blacks XV will play three games on tour later this year.
Otago halfback Dylan Pledger is in contention for a spot on the end-of-season All Blacks XV tour before even making his Super Rugby debut, the Sunday Star-Times understands, as Scott Robertson and his selectors track a talent who could change the way they play in coming years.
The All Blacks XV side are set to have three fixtures later this year - the Barbarians, England ‘A’ and Georgia - and that tour is looking increasingly realistic for the 20-year-old who has helped propel Otago to the top of the NPC ladder.
Pledger’s passing game is already better than any other halfback in the country, his speed is at least on par with Cameron Roigard, and his option-taking in the NPC has been akin to 50-test All Black.
He is by far the closest thing to Aaron Smith New Zealand has produced since the All Blacks’ great left the test scene and on current evidence he is a strong chance of being the architect of the Highlanders’ attack next year in his first year of Super Rugby.
Those qualities have not been missed by the All Blacks coaches, who have made it a priority to align the All Blacks with the New Zealand under-20s program.
After two outstanding years with the New Zealand under-20s, Otago handed Pledger the No 9 jersey in round three of the NPC and their attack immediately went into overdrive, beating Wellington 46-41.
Since Pledger has been in the No 9 jersey, the fewest amount of points Otago have scored is 27 - in the last-minute loss to Tasman in round five - and he again played strong hand in the Ranfurly Shield win against Canterbury last weekend.
Pledger already has five tries - two against North Harbour on Saturday - and 13 try assists, eight more than Canterbury’s Louie Chapman, who is having a great campaign himself.
Pledger’s emergence has come a time when the All Blacks have been talking about a fast game and when halfbacks, not first five-eighths, have become the most important part of attack in rugby.
It is no coincidence that the two best teams in Europe, France and Ireland, are effectively run by world-class halfbacks Antoine Dupont and Jamison Gibson-Park.
Cobus Reinach, meanwhile, was outstanding for the Springboks in their 43-10 win in Wellington a week after Grant Williams had a poor test by his standards at Eden Park.
Halfbacks control the tempo of the attack and, in Pledger’s case, the width as well due to his ability to hit multiple runners either side of the ruck.
Faced with aggressive defensive lines, the All Blacks have struggled to get their attack going this year.
That’s a personnel issue as well as much as a coaching one, and New Zealand’s depth in the position has been overblown.
Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Noah Hotham, Finlay Christie and Kyle Preston all have their qualities, but Pledger is already the best distributor of the lot and will leapfrog most of them by the 2027 Rugby World Cup if he continues on his current trajectory.
Of the current crop, only Pledger offers Smith’s range of passing and uncoachable ability to pick the right runner at the time right time.
The All Blacks selectors will see how Pledger copes with the increased pressure of the playoffs, but the NPC has simply confirmed the talent that was already evident in the New Zealand under-20s.