Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson marks 100th Super Rugby game in Hamilton

Gallagher Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Gallagher Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson marks his 100th game for the franchise this weekend. Twenty years ago, during the active playing era of current assistant coach David Hill, it was hard to believe a player could clock up that many games. Waikato Herald journalist Danielle Zollickhofer talks to both ahead of the big match.

From Cambridge High School and Hautapu Sports Club, to the New Zealand Schools rugby team, New Zealand Under-20s team, Waikato NPC, the Chiefs and the All Blacks, Luke Jacobson, 28, has racked up an impressive rugby CV.

On Saturday, when the Chiefs play the Hurricanes in Hamilton, Jacobson can add another feather to his cap when he becomes only the 14th Chiefs player to play 100 games for the franchise.

Talking to the media before the milestone match, Jacobson said he was looking forward to getting stuck into it.

“It’s gonna be a good bash,” he said.

“I’m stoked that it’s gonna be at our home at Waikato Stadium, where I’ve been able to watch a lot of games growing up and playing.”

All Jacobson’s Super Rugby games were for the Chiefs, but he has also played 35 games for Waikato in the NPC and 24 tests for the All Blacks.

Jacobson first played rugby alongside his older brother Mitch before both represented Waikato and the Chiefs, with their eldest brother Kane playing for North Harbour.

Luke Jacobson made the New Zealand Schools team in 2014, captaining Waikato at the 2016 Jock Hobbs Memorial Under-19 Tournament, where he earned Player of the Tournament honours.

He also led the New Zealand Under-20s team to a World Championship title in Georgia in 2017 and debuted for Waikato in the NPC later that year.

Jacobson made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs in 2018 and captained Waikato in the 2018 NPC.

The following year, he made his All Blacks debut against Argentina in Buenos Aires.

“As a young fella, I never thought [I would] ... be able to play for Waikato, let alone play for the Chiefs, play for the All Blacks,” Jacobson said.

“I mean, you dream about those sorts of things but ... you don’t necessarily think that it’s definitely going to happen.”

He said if he told his younger self about the big one double oh, little Luke would probably tell him to “get stuffed”.

Luke Jacobson during the Oceania U20 rugby championship match between New Zealand and Australia in 2017. Photo / Tertius Pickard, Photosport

“[I’m] very grateful to be able to have the career I have with the Chiefs.

“I’ve always loved it here.

“Over the last 10 years, there hasn’t been a year that I haven’t enjoyed.”

Jacobson said the biggest lesson across his 100 games with the Chiefs had been resilience.

He said his first big injury had been a bit of a wake-up call.

“[But it’s about] ... putting things into perspective, learning that you are not always just gonna be healthy and fit and able to get out there each weekend and sometimes you get injured and that’s all good.”

His goals for the future included continuing to enjoy his job as a professional rugby player.

Chiefs assistant coach David Hill. Photo / Chiefs Rugby Club

“Take each game at a time, be grateful for each game ... [and] try to put your best performance on the park that you can - whether that is as an individual player or as a team.”

Meanwhile, looking back to the early 2000s, when current Chiefs assistant coach David Hill played for the Chiefs, reaching 100 games for a Super franchise was unheard of.

As a player, Hill reached 58 games for the Chiefs between 2001 and 2006.

He told the Waikato Herald that making it to 50 games was “a good effort” not many achieved.

“[It] was a big deal ... at that stage ... there was only about six or seven of us [that had that many caps], cause we were playing probably 11 games a year."

He said, looking at his six years as a Chiefs player, it was pretty cool to have played most of the Super Rugby matches that took place.

Chiefs five-eighth David Hill during the Super 12 Round 12 match in 2005 between the Chiefs and the Highlanders. Photo / Photosport

Nowadays, there are 17 games a season, so it was more achievable to get to 100.

“I’d love to play now, I think it’s a lot better, more professional,” Hill said.

“We know a lot more now and we have awesome trainers and physical people here, so you can see by the way we train and how we are treated and looked after and recover, that there is a good chance to have some longevity in the game.”

In his view, reaching between 150 and 160 games was exceptional.

The highest-capped Chiefs player is Liam Messam with 183 appearances.

The player who reached the most Super Rugby matches in history is prop James Slipper, of Queensland, who started playing for the Reds in 2010 and now plays for the Brumbies.

Slipper reached 203 games this season.

Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.