Rugby: Naholo's year-long wait to return to Super Rugby

Just a week after scoring four tries for Clifton in Taranaki premier club rugby, Kini Naholo is set to complete his long-awaited return to Super Rugby.

The explosive winger has been named on the bench to face Moana Pasifika on Saturday night after around a year sidelined by a serious knee injury that ended his 2025 season with both the Hurricanes and Taranaki.

While he initially hoped the injury was minor, scans later confirmed the extent of the damage and led to a lengthy recovery.

“At the time, I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t that serious,” Naholo told The Most FM Sports Show.

“But looking back at it after the game, the doctors had a look at it and they reckoned it was pretty serious.”

The recovery proved longer than expected. Naholo said after nine months rehabilitating the injury, he returned briefly before hurting himself again about six or seven weeks ago.

“That took me a while, but recovery took a bit longer than I was expecting to be back on the field,” he said.

“I guess that’s part of the game and I can’t really control that side of it.”

His comeback through club rugby has been immediate and emphatic.

Naholo returned for Clifton against United, scoring a try and setting up two more before crossing four times in last weekend’s win over Tukapa as they maintain their unbeaten start to the Taranaki premier competition.

Clifton currently sit six-from-six at the top of the table, with Naholo praising the club’s depth, coaching group and support structure.

“They have a pretty good squad and good depth all across the squad,” he said.

“They’ve got a good support crew from the board, the sponsors and the staff as well. From top to bottom, it’s going pretty well.”

Naholo said returning through Clifton was always important to him despite having opportunities to play club rugby in Wellington during his rehabilitation.

“Clifton have done a lot for me when I moved to New Plymouth, so I feel like I owe them a lot.

“Every time I get a chance to play, I would love to go back and play for Clifton.”

The Hurricanes coaching staff wanted Naholo to build minutes through club rugby before considering him for Super Rugby selection, particularly after his disrupted recovery.

“They told me a couple of weeks ago to try and get some game time under my belt and see how my body was feeling.

“The last two weeks I really enjoyed being back and playing, and I guess the coaches were pretty happy with how it was going.”

Now back in the Hurricanes environment, Naholo said he was eager to return to the field after such a long absence.

“Obviously I’m pretty keen to get on the field. It’s been a while to play at this level.

“I’ve just got to make sure I’m ready when they call my name.”

Naholo also hopes an injury-free remainder of the year will allow him to return for Taranaki Rugby later this season after missing last year’s NPC campaign.

“I always love coming back and playing for Taranaki. Hopefully I stay injury free and come back and play for the Bulls.”