Stephen Perofeta

Highly versatile playmaker Stephen Perofeta earned a call up to the All Blacks squad for the first time in 2022.

The Whanganui Collegiate schoolboy played first-class rugby for Whanganui whilst still at school, earning selection to the Heartland XV that same year.

Touted as a player to watch from a young age, Perofeta made his Super Rugby debut in 2017, notably helping guide the Blues to victory against the touring British and Irish Lions at Eden Park.

That same year saw Perofeta earn selection as a late call up to the New Zealand Under 20 side, where he started at first-five as the team defeated England in the final of the World Rugby Under 20 Championship.

A key cog in Taranaki’s undefeated 2021 Bunnings Warehouse NPC Championship season, Perofeta won the Duane Monkley Medal as the NPC’s best player.

Perofeta found his home at fullback throughout the 2022 DHL Super Rugby Pacific season, forming a strong partnership with first-five Beauden Barrett in one of the competition’s most exciting backlines.