All Blacks squad: Fehi Fineanganofo on his callup, the wild Hurricanes celebrations and his rugby future

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

As Fehi Fineanganofo digested his All Blacks callup in the middle of Johnston Park, Feilding, he estimated a total of four hours sleep since the Hurricanes’ Super Rugby grand final victory on Saturday night.

That wasn’t due to any nerves about whether coach Dave Rennie would give him the call, or angst about his unique situation where he will make his test debut next month having signed a contract with Newcastle Red Bulls. It was simply the celebrations were worthy of the Canes’ first title in a decade.

“Headache… it was an all nighter and the two-hour drive here (from Wellington) was pretty painful… I got through it and I’ve got a bit of recovery sleep coming up,” Fineanganofo told The Post, after he was named in the 34-man squad for tests against France, Italy and Ireland.

The 23-year-old, who will become Auckland Grammar School’s 53rd All Black, was a simple choice for Rennie, especially after Caleb Tangitau’s season-ending injury, after going to a new level with a record-breaking 17 tries for the Hurricanes (equal with fellow callup Josh Moorby).

Having signed with Newcastle in January his rugby future beyond November remains uncertain. Rennie wasn’t buying into, so to speak, talk of NZ Rugby trying to extricate Fineanganofo from his contract. “He’s available til November. We made a decision to pick him and that’s based on form… I’ll let others work through that process.”

Fineanganofo heard all the noise and speculation and wouldn’t be drawn on what might happen, or his contractual status in the UK.

“Just avoiding that question and letting my agent handle it. I trust that he will do what is best for me… all I can do is just play rugby and hopefully Dave keeps picking me. We’ll see what happens after November. Him backing me, the All Blacks coach, gives me a lot of confidence.”

Read More:

• Fineanganofo among four new caps in Dave Rennie’s first All Blacks squad

• Bittersweet day for Hurricanes as unlucky leader misses All Blacks cut

• All Blacks must go all-in on Hurricanes after final masterclass

Those Hurricanes celebrations were in full swing at Brewtown in Upper Hutt on Sunday afternoon when players began receiving text messages. First it was powerhouse prop Xavier Numia, then Fineanganofo, then Moorby.

Said Numia: “I was speechless, I didn’t know what to feel. We were celebrating and then everything just hit me - I was ‘this is crazy’.

“I think I was the first one to get the call… then when I got back I saw Fehi on a call, then Moorbs, the boys gave us all a big hug and cha-hoos and everything. It was pretty special to share that moment with the boys and the season that we’ve had.”

Numia and Fineanganofo were straight on the phone to their partners and parents, while Moorby called his partner, too, but decided to make his parents and siblings wait to for NZ Rugby chair David Kirk to read out the names live on Sky TV at noon.

“I thought I’d leave that for the old fashioned style and let them find out just now. I had to make up a few lies as to what I was doing today,” Moorby said, to laughter from the big crowd gathered at the Feilding Yellows club.

The Hurricanes had 11 included but there were commiserations to be offered, too, with co-captain Du’Plessis Kirifi overlooked in favour of a fourth uncapped player, Blues loose forward Anton Segner. Rennie said Segner had simply outplayed Kirifi, who will almost certainly get his chance among the 44 to tour South Africa. The coach called Kirifi before Monday’s announcement to explain his omission.

The four newbies and newly-announced captain Ardie Savea were presented to the crowd and high-fived youngsters from local schools who watched wide-eyed - and just managed to suppress a big roar for Ruben Love when his name was read out.

Segner’s was a great story, too, having been transfixed watching the All Blacks in the middle of the night in Germany at the 2011 World Cup. With eyes on the prize, he moved to New Zealand and made his rugby name at Nelson College, treading a similar path to Dutchman Fabian Holland who arrived at Christchurch Boys’ High School and made his All Blacks debut a year ago.

Said Segner: “I had to tell (my parents) straight away, after I got off the phone to Dave, it was 4 o’clock in the morning there… after that, Mum, Dad and my brothers couldn’t go back to sleep. They still got up at 2am in Germany now (to watch the announcement), just to make sure that it’s real and not a dream.”

The All Blacks assemble for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of their opener against France in Christchurch on July 4.

All Blacks squad

Hookers: Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, Samisoni Taukei’aho

Props: Ethan de Groot, George Bower, Xavier Numia*, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi

Locks: Tupou Vaa’i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Sam Darry

Loose forwards: Peter Lakai, Simon Parker, Ardie Savea (captain), Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson, Anton Segner*

Halfbacks: Cam Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Kyle Preston

First five-eighths: Ruben Love, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie

Midfielders: Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Billy Proctor, Anton Lienert-Brown

Outside backs: Caleb Clarke, Fehi Fineanganofo*, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby*, Will Jordan

* denotes new cap

Schedule

July 4 v France, One NZ Stadium, Christchurch, 7.10pm

July 11 v Italy, Hnry Stadium, Wellington, 5.10pm

July 18 v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 7.10pm