{"id":250246,"date":"2025-11-07T23:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T23:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250246\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T23:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T23:47:08","slug":"the-defining-moments-of-caleb-tangitaus-meteoric-rise-to-all-blacks-xv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250246\/","title":{"rendered":"The defining moments of Caleb Tangitau’s meteoric rise to All Blacks XV"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Caleb Tangitau has a knack for turning a bad situation into a good one. Three games in two seasons with the Blues<\/a> forced the All Blacks<\/a> Sevens flyer to migrate south to Dunedin, where he flourished in Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> with six tries in seven matches for the Highlanders<\/a> until a groin injury ended his season.<\/p>\n

Auckland<\/a> were horrific in the NPC. New Zealand\u2019s largest and most decorated Union suffered their worst season ever with eight defeats in ten matches. This was no fault of\u00a0Tangitau, who scored three tries in each of their wins against Manawat? (52-29) and Tasman (29-21) and managed additional tries against Ranfurly Shield holders Otago<\/a> and Wellington.<\/p>\n

On his All Blacks XV<\/a> debut against the Barbarians<\/a> at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford, West London, on Saturday, Tangitau revived the visitors\u2019 flagging fortunes with two tries.<\/p>\n

Down 19-0, Tangitau scored a try in the 39th minute following a centrefield scrum which saw Hurricanes<\/a> No.8 Devan Flanders<\/a> offload sharply to Chiefs<\/a> halfback Xaiver Roe, who flung it 20 metres to Tangitau, who did the rest.<\/p>\n

In the 47th minute, a Tangitau chip and chase caged the Barbarians on their tryline. Suddenly, the ball spat loose, and a gleeful Roe pounced for a try.<\/p>\n

While the Barbarians won possession back on the restart, they lost it with their first carry into contact, and a David Havili<\/a> kick through saw Tangitau go close to scoring his second.<\/p>\n

In the 58th minute, Tangitau did collect his double, poaching a timely intercept to dash 30 metres and tie the scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first one was tight. I was lucky I got it down. It was crucial to get some points on the board before halftime,\u201d Tangitau told RugbyPass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second was a lucky intercept. Sometimes you find yourself in the right place at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Barbarians are a proud club. We knew it was going to be a hard battle, especially with all those South Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fixture<\/p>\n

Rugby Union Hybrid Friendlies<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

England A <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

All Blacks XV <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There were 11 South Africans in the starting XV alone, and initially, the All Blacks XV faced an avalanche of forward pressure. Tries from two-time Rugby World Cup-winning hooker Bongi Mbonambi<\/a>, fellow Springboks prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye<\/a> and No.8 Evan Ross powered the Barbarians ahead 19-0 after 26 minutes. However, a combination of Barbarians fatigue and All Blacks XV flamboyance untangled South African suffocation.<\/p>\n

The son of former Tongan Sevens international Vaea Feka Tangita, Caleb made the New Zealand<\/a> Secondary Schools in 2020 out of North Harbour<\/a> powerhouse Westlake Boys\u2019 High School.<\/p>\n

Later that year, he was part of the New Zealand Conder Sevens team and was invited to train with the All Blacks Sevens. He made such an impression that he eventually earned senior selection and won a bronze medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, in addition to a 2022\/23 World Series title.<\/p>\n

But when he joined the Blues, things started to unravel. He told The Hurtlocker<\/a> podcast in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was struggling. I forgot how different the games are, sevens and fifteens, especially going into a team like the Blues. I was honestly struggling for, I would even say, the whole year, just trying to get my head around it all. It was pretty tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Highlanders, Tangitau wasn\u2019t competing with All Blacks Mark Tele\u2019a<\/a> and Caleb Clarke<\/a> for a spot on the wing, and he thrived with tries against the Waratahs, Moana Pasifika, Hurricanes and Brumbies<\/a> until he sustained a groin injury in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting an opportunity to play regularly was a big factor in my coming South. I feel like there is something really good building at the Highlanders and I\u2019m keen to be part of it,\u201d Tangitau said.<\/p>\n

Tangitau was part of unwanted history at Auckland \u2013 the 17-time NPC champions stumbled to a union record of seven consecutive defeats from September 28, 2024, to September 7, 2025. Still, he found a silver lining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some pretty honest conversations,\u201d he admitted. \u201cIt was tough. We were a young side that didn\u2019t meet the standards, but I truly believe there is young talent here to turn it around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tangitau\u2019s immediate focus is on the upcoming All Blacks XV fixture against England<\/a> A at the Recreation Ground in Bath<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caleb Tangitau has a knack for turning a bad situation into a good one. Three games in two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-250246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}