 Whitelock playing against Italy, November 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Samuel Lawrence Whitelock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1988-10-12)12 October 1988 (age 36) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Palmerston North, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 120 kg (265 lb; 18 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Feilding High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Ben Funnell (cousin) Adam Whitelock (brother) George Whitelock (brother) Luke Whitelock (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Samuel Lawrence WhitelockONZM (born 12 October 1988)[1] is a former New Zealandrugby union player.
Whitelock has played over 150 tests for New Zealand since his debut in 2010 and is the youngest New Zealander to reach 100 tests.[2] He is the fastest player ever to reach 100 international appearances, achieving the feat eight years and two months after his test debut.[3]
Whitelock was the winner of New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year in 2017. He has formed a renowned locking combination withBrodie Retallick; Whitelock and Retallick have played 50 tests together since 2012.[4][5] He was a key member of the2011 and2015 Rugby World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of only 43players who have won the men's Rugby World Cup more than once.
Sam played his last game of rugby captaining the Barbarians side taking on Fiji at Twickenham on 22 June 2024. In 2025 he was appointed an Officer of theNew Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby and the community.[6]
Whitelock was part of the world championship winning team, theBaby All Blacks, at the2008 IRB Junior World Championship.[7] He played 5 games, scoring a try againstArgentina. Whitelock made hisAir New Zealand Cup debut for Canterbury in 2008 againstWellington. His Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders was against theHighlanders in the2010 Super 14 season.[8]
In 2010 he was selected into theAll Blacks team for the2010 mid-year rugby test series. He made his debut replacingBrad Thorn off the bench, againstIreland, and scored2 tries.[9] Whitelock played ten tests in 2010 and has never missed a team naming for the team since his debut, earning two starts on the end of year tour. The first of which was a 26–16 win overEngland where he was replaced byAnthony Boric in the66th minute and the second of which was a start against Scotland in a 49–3 win where he played for the full 80 minutes. Whitelock scored his third test try the following week in a 38-18 win over Ireland.[10]
After five appearances prior to the World Cup in 2011, he was selected into New Zealand's 30-man World Cup Squad and after starting in the second pool game against Japan which was an 83–7 win for New Zealand, he went on to hold this position for the rest of the World Cup, including the All Blacks' 8–7 win over France at Eden Park on 23 October, which saw them win the2011 Rugby World Cup.
Whitelock cemented his place as a regular starter for the All Blacks in 2012 and started in 13 of their 14 tests, only coming on as a replacement against Italy in Rome during a 42–10 win that year. Whitelock scored the fourth try of his test career in the32-16 win over South Africa in the Rugby Championship, scoring the opening try for the All Blacks 25 minutes into the test.
After re-committing toNew Zealand Rugby for another four years in 2013,[11] Whitelock andBrodie Retallick became a World-Class locking combination and started together eight times in 2013, with Whitelock playing in 12 of the All Blacks' 14 tests in 2013. Whitelock was only subbed off twice the All Blacks' unbeaten year, in tests against France, Australia and Argentina. He also played his 50th test in the 30–22 win over England on the 2013 end-of-year tour, but this was unfortunately overshadowed by the fact that 2005 and 2012World Rugby Player of the Year-winning Crusaders teammateDan Carter had been subbed off in the 25th minute of that match which was Carter's 100th.
Whitelock started in all three tests in the2014 England rugby union tour of New Zealand with the All Blacks winning all three matches against England. Whitelock had another solid year in the black jersey, playing in a further eight tests that year. Whitelock carried this form into the 2015 Super Rugby season after the off-season, making rugby headlines after scoring a 60m solo try in a Super Rugby fixture against the Reds. Whitelock was selected for his second Rugby World Cup that year.[12] Whitelock played in every single All Blacks test in the2015 Rugby World Cup, including the full 80 minutes of the three knockout rounds. The 34–17 win over Australia in the World Cup Final meant Whitelock would become one of 21 players to win a Rugby World Cup title multiple times.
Whitelock made his 100th appearance for the Crusaders in 2016, scoring the opening try of their 85-26 thrashing of theMelbourne Rebels.[13] After missing the first test against Wales due to injury in 2016, Whitelock returned to action in the second test of the Wales series, putting in another 80-minute performance. He became the most-capped All Blacks lock in 2016 making 11 appearances that year including one off the bench in a 36–17 win over Argentina on 1 October, surpassing the now-retiredIan Jones' 79 tests as an All Blacks lock. Whitelock missed Ireland's 40-29 victory over New Zealand in that year's end-of-season tour due to injury, allowing Crusaders teammateScott Barrett to make his debut, returning from his calf strain to face Ireland in a 21–9 win.
Whitelock was one of the best performing players in the final test of 2016, which was a 24-19 scare from France, with the All Blacks going on to win 13 of their 14 tests that year.[14] Whitelock was nominated for the best New Zealand Player of the Year at the 2016 NZ Rugby Awards alongside teammatesDane Coles andBeauden Barrett being the other nominees. Whitelock and Coles lost the award to Barrett.
Whitelock has become an established member of the Crusaders and New Zealand leadership groups in recent years, with new Crusaders coachScott Robertson naming Whitelock as the captain of the franchise for 2017. Whitelock had an outstanding Super Rugby campaign in 2017 with the exception of a two-week suspension for striking Cheetahs propCharles Marais. Whitelock was also yellow-carded for doing so that match.[15] Whitelock captained the Crusaders in the historic fixture against the touringBritish & Irish Lions side in 2017, producing an 80-minute performance in the Crusaders' disappointing 3–12 loss to the Lions.
Whitelock was selected for the All Blacks' 33-man squad for the 2017 Pasifika Challenge against Samoa and three-test series against the British & Irish Lions. Whitelock started in all four of those matches but had his performance in the Lions series overshadowed by Brodie Retallick and the Lions' youngest player, English lockMaro Itoje who had started for the Lions twice in the test series. Whitelock returned from the Lions series to captain the Crusaders to their first Super Rugby title win since 2008. The Whitelock-lead Crusaders beat 2016 finalists theLions 25–17 to claim their eighth Super Rugby title after losing only one match in the2017 Super Rugby season.[16]
Whitelock re-committed to New Zealand Rugby for another three years in 2017 and he made 12 appearances for the All Blacks in 2017 and for the final test of 2017- a 33–18 win over Wales, was named as captain of the All Blacks for the first time of his career, becoming the 69th test captain of the All Blacks. This came after Crusaders teammate and regular All Blacks captainKieran Read was ruled out of the test due to the need for back surgery. Whitelock's younger brotherLuke Whitelock who had captained a second-string All Blacks side to a 28–23 win over a French XV earlier on the end-of-year tour replaced Read as the starting number 8 for the test. Whitelock performed well in his first test as captain but he was unfortunately awarded the fourth yellow card of his test career in the 67th minute of the Welsh test for a professional foul.
After returning home to New Zealand, Whitelock won two awards at the 2017 NZ Rugby Awards, one for Super Rugby Player of the Year, and was chosen over All Blacks teammateRieko Ioane and Black Ferns playerSarah Goss for the best New Zealand Player of the Year. This was a rare double, with 2016 and 2017 World Rugby Player of the Year- Beauden Barrett, not considered for the awards Whitelock won.[17]
Whitelock was outstanding as Captain for the Crusaders in the2018 Super Rugby season. After high amounts of media speculation, on 20 May 2018, Whitelock was named by New Zealand Head CoachSteve Hansen as the Captain of the All Blacks, with flankerSam Cane and returning-from-injury fullbackBen Smith named as Vice-Captains for the All Blacks' three-test series against France during the June internationals.[18]
Having been in doubt due to his second concussion of the 2018 season, Whitelock returned from injury to lead New Zealand to a 52-11 victory over France in the first test of the series, where he was not subbed off. Whitelock performed very well in the next two tests as well, allowing the2018 French series to be a 3-0 win to New Zealand. Whitelock lead the tackle count in the second test, a 26-13 win, having made 14 tackles during the test. Whitelock had another great game in the third test, a 49-14 win, before being replaced by debutantJackson Hemopo off the bench. Whitelock subsequently captained the Crusaders to win Super Rugby following the June internationals. The Crusaders beat the Lions 37-18 on 4 August 2018, to win their first Super Rugby title at home in ten years.
With previous All Black Captain,Kieran Read, returning from injury in the2018 Rugby Championship, Whitelock stepped down as Captain for the competition. Whitelock began the tournament by playing his 100th test for New Zealand on 18 August 2018, with the All Blacks beating Australia 38-13. Whitelock was one of the best performing players on the field and also played his 47th test in combination withBrodie Retallick, who was Man of the Match. Whitelock also became the youngest All Black to reach 100 tests, being only 29 years old at the time of their victory over Australia.
Although he was stricken by an abdominal injury, Whitelock chose to continue playing rugby while he was injured.[19] Whitelock played in all six tests of the Rugby Championship, Captaining the All Blacks for a fifth time, during the competition, leading them to a 35-17 victory over Argentina while Kieran Read was rested, prior to the second test against South Africa, which was a narrow 32-30 win, thanks to a lateArdie Savea try.
Whitelock missed the test against Japan during the2018 end-of-year tests, with selectors saving the last of Whitelock's energy for tests against England and Ireland. Whitelock's outstanding performance, on 10 November, against England, saw the All Blacks beat England 16-15, before losing to Ireland, 9-16, the following week. Whitelock did not play in the final test for the year, against Italy, and went home early in order to rest after a long year, involving over 1900 minutes of rugby played.[20]
After an extended off-season, Whitelock returned to lead the Crusaders for the2019 Super Rugby season in round 6 of the competition, having been named to lead them against theNew South Wales Waratahs.[21] This was following theChristchurch mosque shootings, which had caused the cancellation of a fixture against theHighlanders.[22]
On Tuesday, 20 April 2019, Whitelock extended his contract with New Zealand Rugby and the Crusaders, signing on to 2023. Whitelock had previously been contracted until 2020 and will miss the2020 Super Rugby season, to take a sabbatical playing for the Ōta City-basedPanasonic Wild Knights, in the JapaneseTop League.[23][24]
Whitelock was named in New Zealand's 31-man squad for the2019 Rugby World Cup, his third World Cup, having played in four of the five warm-up tests for the All Blacks prior to the competition, including a 92-7 defeat of Tonga, as well as a record-breaking 26-47 loss to Australia. Whitelock was named Captain for the All Blacks' 6 OctoberPool Match against Namibia, a 71-9 win. Whitelock started in the All Blacks' victory against Ireland in the quarter-final, and the semi-final defeat to England.
New All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster named Whitelock in his squad for 2020, with Whitelock the lone active New Zealander from the2011 Rugby World Cup. Whitelock went on to play five tests in a shortened 2020 season, before captaining the All Blacks eight times in 2021; withSam Cane missing much of that year due to injury.
SurpassingKeven Mealamu as the second-to-most capped player in New Zealand's history, Whitelock again took the captain's armband for his four final appearances in 2022. To complete the season, Whitelock withBrodie Retallick created a world record lock combination of 64 tests together.[25] This match was a 25-25 draw with England, at Twickenham Stadium.
In 2023 Whitelock was selected in the team for the2023 Rugby World Cup in his fourth cup appearance and was the sole survivor from the 2011 triumph.[26] On 29 September 2023, Whitelock became the most capped All Black of all time with 149 test caps, surpassingRichie McCaw who previously held the record with 148 test caps. Following his record-breaking appearance against Italy in a 96-17 win, Whitelock then became just the second male player in history to reach the milestone of 150 caps; after Welsh lockAlun Wyn Jones. Whitelock's 150th test was a 73-0 win over Uruguay on 5 October.
Named on the bench for the World Cup quarter-final, against Ireland, Whitelock went on to jackal the winning turnover, as the All Blacks narrowly avoided defeat with a 28-24 win. Whitelock replacedShannon Frizell off the bench in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, with South Africa claiming the title as New Zealand lost 11-12. Whitelock, having signed withPau in the FrenchTop 14, retired from international rugby having scored 7 tries from 153 test caps.[27]
| Try | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 June 2010 | Yarrow Stadium,New Plymouth, New Zealand | Ireland | 66–28(Won) | 2010 Mid-Year tests |
| 2 | 12 June 2010 | Yarrow Stadium,New Plymouth, New Zealand | Ireland | 66–28(Won) | 2010 Mid-Year tests |
| 3 | 20 November 2010 | Aviva Stadium,Dublin, Ireland | Ireland | 38-18(Won) | 2010 end-of-year tests |
| 4 | 6 October 2012 | FNB Stadium,Johannesburg, South Africa | South Africa | 32-16(Won) | 2012 Rugby Championship |
| 5 | 17 September 2016 | AMI Stadium,Christchurch, New Zealand | South Africa | 41–13(Won) | 2016 Rugby Championship |
| 6 | 6 October 2019 | Tokyo Stadium,Tokyo, Japan | Namibia | 71–9(Won) | 2019 Rugby World Cup |
| 7 | 24 September 2022 | Eden Park,Auckland, New Zealand | Australia | 40-14(Won) | 2022 Rugby Championship |
Updated: 24 September 2022Source:[1]
Sam Whitelock is married to Hannah Lawton, with whom he has three children.[28] Outside of rugby, he is afarmer by trade and will continue farming after his athletics career is over.[28]
Sam Whitelock is a member of the Whitelock family rugby dynasty:
All four of the Whitelock brothers were educated inFeilding.[29]
