2016–2019
Taylor surpassed the injury-plagued Nathan Harris as regular back-up to the All Blacks' starting hooker Dane Coles off the bench in 2016, following Keven Mealamu's retirement after the 2015 Rugby World Cup's conclusion. Taylor also notably earned a start against Australia in the first match of the 2016 Rugby Championship, but was unfortunately subbed off after three minutes of play for a head injury assessment and was replaced by Coles. Taylor did not return to the field that match and James Parsons was temporarily re-called to the All Blacks during Taylor's recovery from injury.
Taylor had notable involvement in the 57–15 win against South Africa in Durban on 6 October 2016, scoring a try off a driving maul and also receiving a yellow card long after the full-time had passed, following a head-high tackle on Springboks fullback Patrick Lambie. Taylor also earned another start for the All Blacks later that year in the 68–10 victory over Italy, making his way for debutant Liam Coltman in the 66th minute.
In 2017, also had a huge workload for the All Blacks. Taylor stepped up to the role of being a regular starter for the All Blacks following Dane Coles' 5 months out with a concussion. This saw Taylor starting in all three historic tests against the British & Irish Lions, where Taylor scored the first try of the series after being set up to score, by Crusaders team-mate, winger Israel Dagg, with Taylor's try enabling the All Blacks to win the first test 30–15. [9] The All Blacks unfortunately failed to win against the Lions, in the next two tests in the series, with the two teams drawing the series. Taylor kept the starting role at Hooker until Coles returned to international rugby on 26 August 2017, which was a 35–29 win, against Australia, that Taylor took part in off the bench.
After Coles was injured again, against France on the end-of-year tour, Taylor started twice more in 2017, starting in wins against Scotland and Wales. Taylor ended the 2017 season as New Zealand's clear first-choice hooker and was the only player in the All Blacks squad that played in every single test of 2017, seven as a starter and seven as a substitute for Coles off the bench. Taylor's opening try against Scotland on 18 November 2017, a 22–17 win over Scotland, also saw him finish the year as the All Blacks' highest try scorer of the forward pack, with four tries in the 2017 season.
Taylor earned the award for Man of the Match against France on 9 June 2018, after what was arguably the best individual performance in Taylor's whole career saw him score a try in the 52nd minute and also set up outside backs Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie and Ben Smith for tries, with the latter of them scoring his 30th test try off Taylor's pass. Taylor's outstanding 63-minute performance saw him earn mass acclaim from media and saw the All Blacks beat France 52–11 to open their 2018 season. [10] Taylor backed up his performance in the first test against France by starting in the next two tests against France as well, with the All Blacks winning the series 3–0.
Taylor went into the 2018 Rugby Championship in excellent form, having won another Super Rugby title with the Crusaders prior to the competition. Although the Crusaders managed to beat South Africa's Lions for the second year in a row in the Super Rugby Final, such an effort was not replicated internationally. Taylor was one of the few All Blacks to shine in round four of the Rugby Championship, with the All Blacks suffering a shock 34–36 loss to South Africa. Taylor exploited the slow speed of Frans Malherbe and his opposite, Malcolm Marx, to set up Aaron Smith's try and also scored one for himself in the 60th minute. Taylor's performance was not enough to spark a late comeback however, with Beauden Barrett performing poorly in goal-kicking, as opposed to Man-of-the-Match Handre Pollard. Although visibly fatigued from a huge workload, Taylor was retained in the starting lineup for the second test against South Africa, which was a late 32–30 win thanks to an Ardie Savea try. Taylor's great performance saw the All Blacks win the Rugby Championship once again. [11]
With New Zealand's ranking as the best rugby team in the world on the line during the 2018 end-of-year tour, Head Coach, Steve Hansen, opted to keep Taylor as the first-choice hooker, despite the ageing Dane Coles coming back from a long injury-enforced break.
Having started in every single test during 2018, Taylor was rested for 3 November Japan test. Taylor was then predictably named in the starting lineup for the Hillary Shield test against England, which was a narrow 16–15 win over England, an opponent that the All Blacks had not played since 2014. Having defeated England, the All Blacks played against Ireland the next week of the tour, on 17 November 2018. Ireland, ranked second in the world, went into half time ahead of the All Blacks however and Taylor was replaced by Dane Coles in the 46th minute of the test. The All Blacks went on to lose to Ireland, who are set to top the world rankings in 2019. [12]
After a long season in 2018, Taylor was named the Tom French Memorial Māori Player of the Year at the New Zealand Rugby Awards. Taylor was also nominated for the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial Player of the Year trophy, awarded to the best New Zealand rugby player, but lost out on the award to Black Ferns Sevens' halfback, Kendra Cocksedge. [13]
Following the 2019 Super Rugby season, Taylor played in four of New Zealand's warm-up tests prior to the World Cup, including their record 26-47 defeat at the hands of Australia during the 2019 Rugby Championship.
All Blacks Head Coach, Steve Hansen named Taylor in New Zealand's 31-man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup on 28 August 2019, with the competition set to be Taylor's second World Cup. [14]
Taylor played five tests at the World Cup and went on to start in the quarter-final against Ireland. Taylor scored a try in the 46-14 win, which saw New Zealand progress to the semi-finals. The semi-final saw Taylor, as well as England number 8, Billy Vunipola, play their 50th test. Despite praise from fellow All Black Dane Coles, prior to the test, Taylor performed poorly against England, who beat New Zealand and eliminated them from the competition. [15] New Zealand lost to England 7-19. [16]
