Ollie Mathis was bestowed Men’s Young Player of the Year at the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZPA) awards in December 2024.
It was a surprise that the much-hyped 19-year-old didn’t receive the official New Zealand Rugby accolade that instead went to Auckland and New Zealand Under 20s second five-eighth, Xavier Taele.
Mathis is unquestionably the most compelling young prospect in New Zealand, acknowledged by his peers who determine NZPA honours.
The All Blacks Sevens rookie was one of the few positives from New Zealand’s dismal start to the 2024-2025 SVNS series.
He demanded regular minutes in Dubai and Cape Town with his strong carrying on the edges and hustle on defense. In the NPC his ability to switch between openside and wing was a revelation for Waikato. His selection for the All Blacks Sevens was a fulfillment of a lifelong ambition.
“It’s massive. I’m just pretty stoked that I guess I can go out and try to perform at the big level,” Mathis said.
“As soon as I told my family, my old man, my uncle, and my grandad all booked tickets to go over Dubai and Cape Town.
“Growing up, especially as a young fella from a small town, you always see these big guys on TV and think it’s not possible. But I guess if you train hard and work hard, your dreams are going to turn into a reality.”
From a farming background in the mining town of Waihi (90 minutes south of Hamilton) Mathis debuted for Waikato in the NPC at openside flanker in August 2024.
An injury crisis in the loose forward department soon forced him to relocate to the wing where the results were eye-watering.
He scored four tries in three games with his early strike against Taranaki helping Waikato upset Ranfurly Shield holders and defending NPC champions Taranaki 15-14 in the quarter-finals in New Plymouth.
In the semi-final against eventual champions Wellington, Mathis scored a try from past halfway reminiscent of Jeff Wilson in audacity and quality.
“Aaron Cruden gave me the ball and told me to kick it. I put it on the toe and the luck of the bounce I guess went my way. I was pretty stocked with that,” Maiths said.
“I’ve played loose forward my whole life so I guess I’d like to stay there but a balance between the two could be a good idea.”
Hybrid Mathis worked a treat for Hamilton Boys’ High School. While boarding at Peachgrove Road, Mathis helped Hamilton’s First XV win two World Schools titles in Japan and Thailand in addition to the National Top Four and Condor Sevens in 2022.
In 2023 he received the Bronze Boot award as “the most constructive” player in the New Zealand, Australia Schools series. New Zealand bettered their Trans-Tasman rivals 34-3 and 55-36 in Canberra.
Greg Kirkham coached Hamilton’s First XV for 21 years winning 358 out of 420 matches. Mathis was nicknamed “The King” because of his special leadership qualities.
“Ollie was unique not just because of his special talent and work ethic but because he could mix so easily with various players,” Kirkham said.
“Typically boys will gravitate towards groups but Ollie was always inclusive of the young boys and talked with teammates about his expectations and what he wanted as a captain even without the coaches asking him to do so.
“In sevens, we played him in the forwards because that’s where he’d been in fifteens and he had the ideal skill-set for that role. However, he would often migrate to the edges if he had the opportunity. He had the intelligence and pace to hurt opposition from out wide. In 2023 he almost single-handedly won us the Super 8 final against Rotorua Boys’ after we’d lost to them in the round-robin.”
Hamilton won 45 consecutive matches at the national Condor Sevens between 2015 and 2023 but Kirkham stressed his Mathis highlight was at the 2022 National Top Four Mathis only played 20 of a possible 140 minutes in the tournament.
“In the regional semi-final, we played New Plymouth Boys’ in the Gully. The weather was terrible and Ollie twisted his ankle badly. He wanted to stay on the field but couldn’t,” Kirkham reflected.
“Do we take him to Palmerston North?” we asked as coaches. We had to. He was inspirational for us. Ollie kept insisting he would play in the first game against John McGlashan. He couldn’t so instead he delivered the team address and we smashed a highly fancied side with sons of four former All Blacks. That speaks volumes of Ollie’s status within the group.
“The final was two days later against Napier Boys. We benched him thinking it was unlikely he would play. With 20 minutes to go, we were down and he insisted that he go on. You could see him pushing through the pain. It was a big risk but his presence and performance was a big part of getting us over the line in that game.”
Hamilton won the match 17-15 with a last-minute try to winger Caelys Putoko.
“I was gutted to miss the semi-final against John McGlashan. I hate watching the boys train, so I had to lie a little about how I was feeling before the final. The physio told me I couldn’t do any more damage, so I thought stuff it, I’ll play,” Maiths recalled.
“It was special to captain Hamilton. All the boys want to be there so there’s not much telling off. I try to reinforce simple stuff and focus on the next job by asking how we can improve. There’s no point in dwelling on mistakes.”
The memory of Keaton Reti was a big motivator in the 2023 season. The promising youngster tragically passed in February after a farming accident.
“Keats was a top bloke, a cheeky bugger and cool dude all around. I miss him but never forget him.”
