Rising All Blacks star Fabian Holland soaking up every minute

Holland took the road less travelled to the All Blacks. Born in Alkmaar, Netherlands, he played rugby locally and was then inspired by the 2014 All Black Sevens team, which came to train at his club.

In 2019, he moved to Christchurch to study and play rugby. He was snapped up by Otago and then represented the New Zealand U20s, finally making his All Blacks debut against France this year.

Holland said he has enjoyed working with fellow locks Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa'i and Patrick Tuipulotu, and the team's leaders have also been a help. He played with No. 8 Wallace Sititi in the New Zealand Under-20s, and all had been involved in making him feel welcome and comfortable in the side.

Having become a significant lineout option for the team, Holland said that to perform his role effectively, he had to prepare well to do his job on the field.

"I just have to jump and catch the ball; the others actually have to lift me," he told allblacks.com.

"It's about building that confidence with the group and trying to do my mob. It makes it a lot easier when you have a world-class hooker throwing the ball and a world-class lineout around you. I'm just the middle part of it; the other boys get all the credit.

"There are a lot of things I still need to improve, and that's my accuracy around my involvement.

"It's doing my role for the team. I like to be a busy man on the field, and I don't mind getting my hands dirty. I'm trying to do my best for the team and, hopefully, after 80-85 minutes, I can look back and think, 'I've done everything I can to help this team out today.'

"If that means making five tackles, then that means making five tackles and if it means making 15 tackles then it means making 15 tackles."

Holland added that he's been enjoying his time in the All Blacks' camp and has been trying to learn as much as he can while soaking up everything available.

Experiencing his first home Bledisloe Cup Test 33-24 win at Auckland last week was the latest box ticked in a season of milestones.

"There was an awesome atmosphere at Eden Park," continued the 22-year-old.

"The Wallabies are a quality side, and we knew they were physical. We also knew that was one they wanted. So, it was a great challenge and I loved being out there.

"We know they can bounce back from a game; they've got great resilience. We saw that against the British and Irish Lions. They've got some returning players, so we know we've got a massive challenge ahead of us again.

"We're up for this week and are looking forward to that challenge. We have a great chance to build a bit of momentum from last weekend. We haven't shown a lot of consistency in our game, and it's a great opportunity for us to see where we're at. We want to embrace this challenge and control what we can control."

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