Highlander #266 Shannon Frizell will return to the southern club for the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season, adding to his 68 caps in the blue, gold and maroon.<\/p>\n
The 33-Test All Blacks loose forward\u2019s contract with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) will see him return from Japan in mid-2026 to be available to play for Tasman in the NPC.<\/p>\n
The 32\u2011year\u2011old Tongan\u2011born loose forward made his Highlanders debut in 2018 and earned All Blacks selection later that same year. Since 2023, Frizell has been a standout performer for Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo in Japan Rugby League One, helping the club secure back\u2011to\u2011back championships in 2024 and 2025. He also featured for the ANZAC XV against the touring British & Irish Lions in Australia last year.<\/p>\n
A powerful ball\u2011carrier with strong lineout presence, Frizell\u2019s return is set to bolster Head Coach Jamie Joseph\u2019s forward pack in 2027. With a Rugby World Cup in Australia looming later that year, Frizell will also be eager to push his case for an All Blacks recall.<\/p>\n
Joseph welcomed the announcement, highlighting both the quality and experience Frizell brings back to the south.<\/p>\n
\u201cShannon returning to the Highlanders is a real bonus for the club, and it\u2019s great to see a seasoned international player prepared to return to Super Rugby to have a crack at making the All Blacks. He knows our culture well, he\u2019s a hard\u2011working player, and he\u2019ll fit seamlessly into our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frizell\u2019s homecoming adds further depth and power to a Highlanders squad continuing to build toward an important 2027 campaign.<\/p>\n
Highlanders CEO Roger Clark says the club is equally energised by Frizell\u2019s return, noting the momentum the organisation has built over recent seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last few seasons the club has worked hard at rebuilding and growing the talent pool we believe we need to be competitive in one of the toughest professional leagues in the world. The arrival of Shannon will give further impetus to that, and it\u2019s exciting news for our fans to welcome back a player of his calibre.\u201d<\/p>\n
NZR Interim Chief Executive Steve Lancaster said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really pleased to have Shannon returning to New Zealand and look forward to seeing him back in action in the NPC later this year. Any time a player with international experience comes home is a boost to the game here and it\u2019s great to see Shannon\u2019s desire to represent his provincial union, Super Rugby club and country remains as strong as ever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Highlander #266 Shannon Frizell will return to the southern club for the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season, adding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-367110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}