All Blacks have two former Hamilton Boys’ High School halfbacks

All Blacks halfbacks Noah Hotham and Finlay Christie at training on Wednesday. Photo / Photosport

Waikato-born Crusaders halfback Noah Hotham, 21, has been called into the All Blacks squad as injury cover for TJ Perenara and could become the third Hotham sibling to represent New Zealand.

The former Hamilton Boys’ High School 1st XV rep joins the national halfback ranks alongside fellow HBHS alumnus Cortez Ratima.

Perenara did not return for the second half of the All Blacks’ 16-15 victory in Dunedin on Saturday after his knee twisted in a clean-out incident, but the All Blacks are hopeful he will only be sidelined for a short period.

Ōtorohanga and Chiefs No 9 Ratima looks to be in line for his test debut at Eden Park on Saturday as a backup to Finlay Christie in the All Blacks’ second clash with England.

If Noah were to make his test debut, he would be the third of his siblings to represent New Zealand in an international sport following older brother Legin in the Touch Blacks and sister Jazmin in the Black Ferns Sevens.

Another brother, Tane, recently represented the New Zealand Ambassadors XV in Prague, defeating the Czech Republic 43-0 in a one-off match.

A debut for Noah would also be quite the juggle for his parents, who are currently on the other side of the world.

“We feel very fortunate that presently we are in Europe heading to Nottingham, England to watch his oldest brother, Legin, play in the Touch World Cup before heading to Paris Olympics the following week to watch Jazzy in the Black Ferns Sevens,” father and former Hamilton Boys’ High School 1st XV coach Nigel Hotham said.

“As if that wasn’t special enough, now we’re all thrilled for Noah. I’m not sure what we’d do if he did get the call up as we’d all want to be at his first game.

“Not that we want anything to happen to the other halfbacks, especially Cortez, who we are also very proud of in joining Hamilton Boys’ 1st XV old boys Sevu Reece and Emoni Narawa as a present All Black.”

Nigel is no stranger to sporting success himself, having coached the Hamilton Boys’ High School 1st XV to five world schoolboy titles, four national championships, 51 New Zealand schoolboy selections, six All Blacks - seven if his son debuts - and many more accolades over the past 21 years, before stepping down just last week.

He said Noah is usually a “fairly cool customer”, but was over the moon when he received the call.

“He just thinks it’s surreal that he’s in the company of the All Blacks, many of whom have been lifetime heroes,” Nigel said.

“We’re obviously just very excited for the young fulla as are all his whānau. He has the proudest siblings, aunties, uncles and cousins in the world I reckon.”

Noah first burst onto the National Provincial Championship (NPC) scene with Tasman in 2021 and has since gained 23 caps for the province, scoring 10 tries.

At Super Rugby Pacific level he has made 19 Crusaders appearances over the past two seasons and was also a New Zealand Under 20 representative on eight occasions (2022-2023).

Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.