Waisake Naholo

Barrett set Naholo up for a try in the 39th minute but Naholo tore his hamstring upon scoring, leaving him to be replaced by Savea who scored his 40th All Blacks try that match.

Naholo was used as a replacement off the bench for re-called midfielder George Moala who was injured in the 48th minute of the third test.

Naholo settled well into the centres despite mid-air collisions with Welsh backs and played his part in the 46-6 demolishing of Wales in the third test.

Naholo finished the three-test series as the equal top try-scorer of the series alongside new starting first-five Beauden Barrett.

Due to the return of Israel Dagg who celebrated his 50th test in the second game of the Welsh series, Naholo started the test on the left wing rather than the right, with Julian Savea missing the second test.

Naholo scored a try in the 60th minute of the second test and set up rookie loose forward Ardie Savea for his first international try only five minutes later, making the final score 36-22 after a comeback from Welsh backs Liam Williams and Jonathan Davies.

Waisake Ratunideuba Naholo (born 8 May 1991 Sigatoka, Fiji) is a New Zealand rugby union player.

He previously played for the All Blacks Sevens and on the wing (and occasionally centre) position for London Irish.

In May 2022 he signed with Rugby New York, who play in the Major League Rugby competition.

At just 18, Naholo was playing provincial rugby, playing the 2009 Heartland Championship with Wanganui, he was contracted and appeared in eleven matches and recorded six tries while still at school.

At provincial level, he began his career with Wanganui before making the switch to Taranaki in 2011.

In 2011, Naholo moved north to Taranaki.

He made his debut for the side, when he started on the wing against Wellington in week one of the competition.

He played mainly on the left wing throughout the season, featuring in five matches with the only one game coming off the bench.

Naholo also played for the New Zealand U20 side that defended its World U20 championship crown in Italy in 2011.

Naholo earned himself a Blues contract after a superb ITM Cup season in 2012.

Starting on the wing, he became a regular try-scoring threat.

He also became a member of the Hurricanes wider training group for 2012.

Naholo was selected in the New Zealand Sevens team to prepare for the 2012 IRB World Series in Wellington, making his international rugby debut at Westpac Stadium.

In 2012, Naholo continued to be a key contributor for Taranaki, playing the season's first two Ranfurly Shield matches against King Country and Wanganui. He played his second consecutive ITM Cup season for Taranaki.

Naholo started the season scoring a solo try taking the ball from a line-out on half way and easily beating Bay of Plenty defenders to score untouched.

He ended the season with a total of eight matches and five tries, enough to earn him a Super Rugby contract with the Blues.

A former New Zealand under-20 rep, Naholo has played in five Sevens World Series tournaments, and featured in Gordon Tietjens' squad which won the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

After an impressive showing in the ITM Cup, Naholo earned his first Super Rugby start in the Blues 21–28 loss to the Bulls in Round 4 of the 2013 Super Rugby season.

He had the only one appearance after against the Highlanders finishing with a try.

Naholo made his test debut for the All Blacks in 2015 and was a member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning team.

He was also part of the Highlanders team that won the 2015 Super Rugby title.

In February 2015, he signed a 2-year contract with French Top 14 club, ASM Clermont Auvergne.

He was to join the club at the end of the 2015 ITM Cup but decided to pull out of the contract after a good super rugby season as he was now in contention for an All Black spot and he was subsequently released by Clermont.

Naholo was the top try-scorer of the 2015 Super Rugby season, scoring 13 tries for the Highlanders that year.

Naholo has since been selected in a squad of 41 for the New Zealand All Blacks.

He was eligible to be selected for the historic test against Manu Samoa in Apia on 8 July, The Rugby Championship and the return Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park on 15 August.

He made his debut on the right wing in the 2015 Rugby Championship against Argentina but was subbed off in the 51st minute with a cracked bone which would rule him out for 3 months thus ruling him out of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

However, in a shock move which defied the odds, Naholo was named in the 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup 2015, being chosen over 53-test veteran Cory Jane and 49-test veteran Israel Dagg, the latter of whom had also been struggling with injury.

He was expected to be match-fit for the All Blacks third pool game against Georgia.

Naholo played in matches against Georgia and Tonga, scoring the opening try for the former, making it his first international score.

In June 2016, he made a return to the All Blacks after coach Steve Hansen included him in his 32-man squad for the 2016 June international test series against Wales.

He was named on the right wing for their first test against Wales.

Naholo scored a double in the first test and lasted the full 80 minutes, with the All Blacks winning 39-21.

Naholo was named to start on the left-wing in round one of the 2016 Rugby Championship with Savea benched against the Wallabies.