Peter Lakai is the best openside flanker in the world, according to former All Blacks winger Jeff Wilson, who has likened the back-rower to the legendary Sir Michael Jones.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old loose forward played a central role in the Hurricanes\u2019 2026 Super Rugby Pacific title-winning campaign and has taken much of that form into the black jersey.<\/p>\n
Peter Lakai is the best openside flanker in the world<\/p>\n
While Lakai<\/a> made his Test debut under former All Blacks<\/a> boss Scott Robertson, he has become a key figure in the team\u2019s loose trio under Dave Rennie this year. He featured in all four Tests against the Springboks in Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series, coming off the bench in the first two matches before starting the latter two, playing in the number six and eight jerseys.<\/p>\n For the Bledisloe Cup Tests<\/a> against the Wallabies, he donned the number seven jersey, which is where Wilson<\/a> believes Lakai is the best in the world. \u201cThe best openside flanker in the world is Peter Lakai. This is a generational athlete at the age of 23,\u201d the former winger said on Sky Sport NZ\u2019s Breakdown show.<\/p>\n \u201cBy chance, by injury, he has now fallen into the openside flanker position; he has played number eight for the All Blacks too.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Barrett takes inspiration from New Zealand cricket great after losing All Blacks captaincy and reveals Dave Rennie\u2019s \u2018old-school\u2019 punishment<\/a><\/p>\n New Zealand duo claim top World Rugby awards: \u2018They\u2019re raising standards and inspiring the next generation\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Generational talent<\/p>\n Wilson\u2019s high praise didn\u2019t stop there as he likened Lakai to his former teammate Jones, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest All Blacks of all time. The ex-winger said that there are two names he would write down first when piecing together a starting XV, with Jordie Barrett being one and Lakai being the other.<\/p>\n Furthermore, he feels that the loose forward is not getting the praise his performances this year deserve \u2013 something that he is addressing. His versatility, his athleticism \u2013 I\u2019m going to put him in rarefied air in terms of athleticism. To me, he looks like a young Michael Jones,\u201d he continued.<\/a><\/p>\n