All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot has signed on with New Zealand Rugby, the Highlanders and Southland through to the end of 2029, a deal that keeps one of the country’s most experienced front rowers at home for the next three seasons.
The extension was announced on Wednesday while the loose head prop was in South Africa with the All Blacks squad. It carries him through the next Rugby World Cup and on to the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 2029, two events he has said openly he wants to be part of.
“Re-signing was an easy decision for me. I love the Highlanders and playing for my province, and I take real pride in representing my country in the All Blacks,” de Groot said. “I’ve always been proud of where I come from, so staying down south and continuing to represent this region for another two years was an easy choice.”
He also pointed to what is in front of him rather than behind him. “Three wins has been a great way to start the year, but the hard work has just begun. It’s a huge season with the Nations Championship and the South Africa tour,” he said. “With the World Cup in sight next year and the Lions tour even further forward, it is a goal of mine to keep my form, to be a part of both of these career highlights.”
De Groot is 28 and has played 43 tests. He has made 76 appearances for the Highlanders and has scored five test tries, the most recent of them against Italy in Wellington in July. He started each of the All Blacks’ first three wins of the Nations Championship this year. He and his wife welcomed a daughter, Nova, in March, and he has said the arrival made the decision to stay easier rather than harder.
All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan said the prop had become a fixture in the pack. “It’s great to see Ethan recommit; he’s an important member of our forward pack,” Ryan said. “He understands what’s required at Test rugby and enjoys the hard parts of the game. We’re excited to see him continue developing and contributing to our game over the coming years.”
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster, who took the job permanently in May after six months as interim boss, framed the signing around loyalty. “Ethan’s commitment and passion for the black jersey are obvious to all of us every time he takes the field for the All Blacks and he’s shown the same loyalty and work ethic for his home region as a Southland Stag and a Highlander,” Lancaster said.
That regional thread runs through the whole announcement. Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark noted that de Groot has twice been named the club’s Highlander Man, in 2024 and again this year, and was voted the team’s most valuable player this season. “Extending his contract is simply another example of the passion he has for the Highlanders and the South,” Clark said.
Rugby Southland chief executive Hua Tamariki was blunter about what the news means for a union that has spent years watching talent head north. “Ethan’s decision to recommit through to the end of 2029 is fantastic news for Southland rugby and a reflection of his deep connection to the province that helped shape him,” Tamariki said. “His extension with New Zealand Rugby, the Highlanders and the Southland Stags ensures that our aspiring young players can continue to look up to one of their own who has shown that with dedication, perseverance and belief, Southlanders can achieve success on the biggest stages in world rugby.”
De Groot was born on Queensland’s Gold Coast in 1998 but grew up in the deep south, going through Gore High School and finishing at Southland Boys’ High School. He first played for Southland in 2018, joined the Highlanders in 2020, and made his All Blacks debut against Fiji in Dunedin in July 2021, the first Southlander to pull on the jersey since Elliot Dixon five years earlier.
It has not been a smooth run. At the 2023 Rugby World Cup he became the first New Zealander to be shown a red card at the tournament, sent off against Namibia in pool play, before returning to start the final that South Africa won by 12 points to 11.
Speaking to RNZ after the announcement, de Groot said he had not been looking at offers from overseas clubs and considered himself something of a one club man, happy with the All Blacks environment and in no hurry to leave.
The timing is useful for New Zealand Rugby. Retention has been the sharp end of its problems for years, with senior forwards in particular drawing large offers from Japan and France at exactly the age when they are most useful to a test side. Locking in a starting loose head prop who will be in his early thirties by the time the Lions arrive removes one variable from a run that includes a World Cup and a home series that only comes around every twelve years.
For now de Groot’s attention is on the tour in front of him. The All Blacks are working through their first full tour of South Africa in three decades, having beaten the Stormers 38 to 21 in Cape Town and the Sharks 54 to nil in Durban, with a match against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld before the opening test against the Springboks at Ellis Park on 22 August. Four tests against South Africa follow across three weeks, the last of them in Baltimore.
What do you make of de Groot committing through to 2029, and can New Zealand Rugby keep hold of the rest of the pack? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
Leave a Reply