All Blacks great: Will Jordan’s action in Italy victory ‘unlike’ back three star as record-breaker got ‘FOMO’
Will Jordan celebrating after scoring a try for the All Blacks against Italy.
Will Jordan is even more “hungry” to succeed after getting a fear of missing out, according to former All Blacks star Justin Marshall.
The back three star has started the international campaign in stunning fashion, touching down five times in two games to become their all-time record try-scorer.
Jordan has now crossed the whitewash 50 times in 56 matches and moved ahead of Doug Howlett in the standings after his hat-trick against Italy.
Injury issues in 2026
The 28-year-old was a severe doubt for the start of the All Blacks’ Test season due to a recurrence of a calf injury he suffered while playing for the Crusaders.
That issue limited him to just six starts in Super Rugby Pacific, but he managed to recover in time for New Zealand’s opener against France in Christchurch.
He went over twice versus Les Bleus to move closer to Howlett in the standings before the big moment came a week later in the country’s capital of Wellington.
Jordan managed to break a record which had stood for 19 years, with the likes of Joe Rokocoko and Julian Savea all trying – and failing – to break it.
Most expected the Crusader to go past the mark in 2026 but few perhaps expected him to do it so quickly – just two weeks into their international season.
“He’s just really hungry. He’s looking like he wants to find work, he wants to find opportunities on the field. Obviously, he’s adapted to playing on the wing really well,” Marshall said on the GBRANZ podcast.
“He didn’t have the best Super Rugby campaign because it was plagued with injuries – he had his concussion issues and then he had his calf problem – so when that happens you get FOMO as a player.
“When you get the opportunity to put the boots on again, you’re hungry. You can just see that his energy levels are really high.”
Self-effacing Jordan
Jordan is one of the most spectacular players in a game, but he does it with little fuss and without the theatrics which might accompany other global stars.
Even big tries against the very best teams are greeted with not much fanfare from the back three player himself, but it was slightly different against Italy according to Marshall.
“Seeing him gesture to the crowd at the weekend, that’s a little unlike him, usually he will just do the shark fin thing, but he was really pumping up the crowd and that’s just showing how invested he is at the moment,” the former scrum-half added.
“Being invested when you’ve got a strike record like he has, that’s only got to be awesome for the All Blacks.”
