Our next up-and-comer has been around for the last couple of years, but this year has really taken his game to another level.

Jaime MacKintosh has come up through the age grade system, playing in every age grade side that he was eligible for. And, from an early age, it was obvious that he would go on to bigger things.

Not only has he shown that he has the makings of a world class prop (he weighs in at 128kg, and stands 1.94m tall, by the way), but in his short career so far he has also shown that he is a very strong leader - and has already been given the job of captaining Southland in the Air New Zealand Cup.

MacKintosh got his first full season of Super 14 rugby this year, and although the Highlanders struggled, we definitely got to see his potential.

It's really only a matter of time before we see him making the step up to the All Blacks, and with Greg Somerville departing at the end of the year, we may see him in black as early as next year.

At only 23 years old, this is only the beginning of what could be a very long career in New Zealand.

Watch out for him - although at 1.94m tall, he's hard to miss.