Fabian Holland has become a key member of the All Blacks, but his rugby life began in his native Netherlands. Queenstown reporter Philip Chandler reflects on a visit to where it all started for Holland.
Like all rugby fans, I’ve been amazed at how huge Highlanders lock Fabian Holland has made such a great start to his All Blacks career after growing up in a non-rugby-mad country, the Netherlands.
So, having a week’s break in that country during August, and being told his dad Reinout likes a beer, I rang him when I was there to see if we could catch up.
After showing me the Castricum Rugby Club ground, where Fabian played as an admittedly big nipper, we had a few beers in a nearby pub as he settled into his first media interview.
Fabian has said his interest in rugby began when he watched the All Blacks on TV when he was only 5. But like all Dutch youngsters, he began with football at school, Reinout says.
“But there’s a thing we call a sport pass, and it allows you at the beginning of school season to try out different sports, and with Fabian, the first item on the list was ‘come play rugby’.
“So he went to play rugby and then never finished the sport pass with other sports because he liked it so much.
“He could use his body and he liked the physical aspect and he loved the coach.”
Being big for his size, he would hook up with children three or four years older than him, Reinout recalls.
His son, he says, was addicted to watching All Blacks and Super rugby — “He knew all the names in all the clubs”.
When he moved to New Zealand and was asked to name his favourite player, he mentioned Jimmy Cowan, “and who knows Jimmy Cowan outside New Zealand, right?”.
Reinout says his son learnt a lot of English listening to commentators like Justin Marshall, and loved his “Boomfa!” catchcry.
One year he was assessed at school on his English, Reinout says.
“And he was deducted points because he was actually speaking with a heavy New Zealand accent. He was speaking like what he heard from Justin Marshall.”
In Fabian’s obsession with New Zealand rugby, his dad says two events stood out.
In 2012, as a 10th birthday present, his parents took him to Edinburgh to watch the All Blacks play Scotland. The day before, young Fabian bumped into the All Blacks’ Canterbury crew, including Kieran Read, Sam Whitelock and Richie McCaw, at a cafe.
“It was the first time he ran into his heroes.
“He had a little chat with them, and Kieran Read was exceptionally nice. The other guys were a little bit more introverted.
“Fabian was, like, completely star-struck.”
Ironically, though Scotland were thrashed, their big Dutch winger Tim Visser scored two tries.
Two years later, Fabian was further exposed to New Zealand rugby when the All Blacks Sevens trained at Castricum ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Coach Gordon Tietjens had a session with the local youngsters.
“This was a big moment in his life because he got exposed to how Gordon Tietjens talked about training, about sacrifice, what you need to be a professional.”
Again, Fabian was star-struck by the likes of DJ Forbes throwing the ball around.
His parents put him into the Rugby Academy NoordWest, one of six in the Netherlands, where his studies at a nearby school, from 12 to 16, were rostered around rugby training, and in the weekend he would play in Castricum club colours.
Believe it or not, Fabian played first five, though when he made the Netherlands under-18 side he played No 8 as another first five was chosen.
Reinout says rather than play in the European championships, Fabian instead decided to join Christchurch Boys’ High School’s rugby programme on the other side of the world, initially for a short stint.
He had been seriously wooed, however, by South Africa’s Durban-based Northwood School, and there was also interest from France’s Toulouse club.
At the time, Reinout said South African schools rugby had been rocked by players failing drug tests.
Fabian also had not liked how the school prioritised themselves over the development of the individual, and South Africa’s emphasis on power rugby — “He was always trying to step out of tackles and avoid contact, actually.”
Reinout says from an early age, his son took a notebook to trainings after watching McCaw, in a documentary, do just that.
“And it said on the first page, ‘FDAB’, standing for ‘first Dutch All Black’.”
When Fabian arrived at Christchurch Boys’, his dad says coach Mike Drury messaged him: “Ooh, he’s huge.”
“He was 2m, probably, and right away the coaching staff told him, ‘mate, you’re not going to be a fly-half, you’re going to be a lock’. He took some time to accept that, but he was, like, “all right, let’s go for that’.”
Reinout is full of praise for Drury — “he’s like a surrogate father” — and his other school coaches.
After just a few games for the CBHS seconds, he was catapulted into the First XV.
“He played well, he trained well, they could see he had a really good basic skillset of pass, catch, run.
“He had a good feel for the game but was by no means the rugby player he is now.”
When Covid came in 2020, Reinout says there was a stressful 48 hours deciding whether Fabian stayed or went home — with the latter option potentially derailing his career.
Adding to the stress, he and wife Margot — Fabian’s mental coach — were also breaking up at the time.
Reinout says that out of the blue, Dutchman Tyler Koning — who had played for Castricum and was farming at Lincoln, near Christchurch — and his wife took Fabian into their household.
“That was unbelievable hospitality, to take in somebody they didn’t know. They didn’t want any money or compensation for it.
“It was something like three months he spent there, helping on the farm before he could go back to the college dorm.”
He then stayed there about two weeks, training by himself, before the school reopened.
While at school, Fabian won selection for the New Zealand under-20 team and a paper selection for NZ Schools.
Reinout says his son was a huge Crusaders fan when he came to Christchurch, but he could not make their playing academy as they had plenty of locks.
Fabian was seriously wooed by both the Highlanders and Chiefs.
“The recruitment effort of [Highlanders talent development manager] Kane Jury was very personal. They had a whole presentation made especially for him.”
The Chiefs’ All Blacks lock, Brodie Retallick, also made a video to try to persuade him to go there.
In hindsight, Reinout believes the Highlanders were a really good choice “because he got a lot of opportunity to play and develop himself”.
He emphasised the sacrifices Fabian made leaving family and friends behind, at just 16, to pursue the dream he’d had since about the age of 10 to play for the All Blacks.
“He just trained and trained and trained, and it’s one of his key things — he’s just prepared to work so hard and devote so much time to it.”
He was “flabbergasted” to be woken up when Fabian called in June with the news he had made the All Blacks.
“It was unbelievable and emotional as well, because you know that he worked so hard. He had a lot of setbacks as well, injuries, relationships, all that kind of thing, so it’s been a sacrifice for him.”
Reinout flew out to Dunedin to watch Fabian’s first test in July against the French, joining Margot, and Fabian’s younger brother Quinten — who is trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps — while sister Franka, Quinten’s twin, watched on TV from Brazil, where she was playing for the Dutch women’s rugby side.
