{"id":512391,"date":"2026-03-01T19:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/512391\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T19:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:38:08","slug":"all-blacks-halfback-sticking-with-nz-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/512391\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks halfback sticking with NZ rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cortez<\/p>\n

Cortez Ratima is staying with New Zealnad Rugby to the end of 2028 PHOTO: DJ MILLS\/LINTOTT PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n

All Blacks halfback Cortez Ratima has signed to stay with New Zealand Rugby and the Chiefs to the end of 2028.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old said it was an easy decision, especially after the recent birth of his second son.<\/p>\n

“I have a new baby at home and being in one place and having a stable home life is good for our family,” said Ratima.<\/p>\n

“I love this club and how they have supported me and my family. I’m loving what [Chiefs coach] Jono [Gibbes] and the other coaches are doing and there’s no place I’d rather be.”<\/p>\n

Ratima has 38 games to his credit for Waikato and 60 for the Chiefs since his Super Rugby debut against the Crusaders in 2022.<\/p>\n

He has played 21 tests since making his All Blacks debut against England in 2024.<\/p>\n

Ratima said with the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia getting closer, competing for a place in the All Blacks was a huge motivator.<\/p>\n

Gibbes was happy Ratima was staying with the side.<\/p>\n

“It’s great to have a player of Cortez’ ability stick with us. It shows his faith in what we are doing and where we are heading, which is terrific. It’s also a reflection on the culture we have here at the club.<\/p>\n

“Cortez is a talented young man and it is exciting to know he and his wh\u0101nau will be a part of the Chiefs for another three years, at least.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cortez Ratima is staying with New Zealnad Rugby to the end of 2028 PHOTO: DJ MILLS\/LINTOTT PHOTOGRAPHY All…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-512391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}