Fabian Holland: Sam Whitelock was 'testing me' with Barbarians

One of the most highly touted prospects in the recently unveiled All Blacks XV squad is 22-year-old Fabian Holland, a lock who recently became eligible for New Zealand and was quizzed by Sam Whitelock as the pair spent time together in the Barbarians squad.

The third-youngest player in the 2024 All Blacks XV squad hails not from Tauranga or Thames, but from the Netherlands. Standing at 2.04 metres tall and over 120 kg, he’s a player Kiwi rugby fans and All Blacks selectors alike have high hopes for.

A new generation of New Zealand’s second rowers are getting a chance to shine in 2024 with the passing of the torch from Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, both of whom hung up their black boots at the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Tupou Vaa’i has made the most of his opportunity in the starting lineup to put concerns over the transition period to rest, while Sam Darry has proven himself to be up to the challenge of international rugby.

Holland hopes to be the next cab off the rank and has an opportunity to show his ability on the big stage when he travels with the team to Europe for their two games in November.

It won’t be the first visit to the European continent this year for the young Highlander, who earned selection for the Barbarians in their team to face Fiji back in June. The then 21-year-old came off the bench to join the most capped All Black of all time, Sam Whitelock, in his final game of professional rugby.

Beyond the match itself, having the tutorship of one of the greats for a week was a special moment for Holland.

“He was awesome for me, he just tried to pass on a few gold nuggets and tried to take me under his wing,” the youngster told The Breakdown.

“The whole week he pretty much asked me questions; it was around the time the Super Rugby final was on, unfortunately we didn’t make it of course but we watched the final together and he was pretty much testing me, like ‘what would you do in this situation?’ or ‘what would you do here?’

“It was an awesome experience, and then to share the field with him, it was a little kid’s dream coming true. It was awesome.”

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While his height lends itself to strong lineout work, another of Holland’s points of difference is his nous around the breakdown. Despite his long frame, the Dutchman proved to be one of Super Rugby Pacific’s premier breakdown threats while providing an immense all-round work rate across the park.

“I love being in and around the breakdown,” he said, describing his game. “Just the physical side of it and throwing your body around. It’s a bit of an unorthodox thing being quite tall and being able to get down low and slow the ball down or even get a turnover, I’d like to say I pride myself on that.

“That’s what I do, otherwise just try to work for my teammates and make sure after 80 minutes I know I’ve done everything I can to help the team get a win.”

He’s earned himself no shortage of fans through his first two seasons of professional rugby, including All Blacks coach Scott Robertson who showed a keen awareness of Holland’s eligibility status soon after starting in the role.

Since taking the “leap of faith” to move to Christchurch at the age of 16, the dream of becoming an All Black has edged closer and closer.

All Black great Sir John Kirwin reacted to the interview and offered his two cents on why Holland’s status as a supposed All Black in waiting.

“Well from what I’ve heard he’s coachable, he works hard and he’s two metres four,” the former Blues coach grinned. “South Africa continue to produce big men and it’s not something that we’ve actually produced; a lot of our young guys are going to basketball. Back in the day, Steven Adams would have played rugby.

“So, we need big men and he’s a big body. He’s still a young man; it takes, like he said, time to grow into his body. But, also, he started his apprenticeship really at 16 when most Kiwis start it at six.”