Jermaine Ainsley

Jermaine Ainsley had just made the Western Force’s tighthead shirt his own when the franchise was cut from Super Rugby at the end of the 2017 season for poor results. Four years later he signed for the Highlanders and an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly cost him the whole campaign.

Note on his current club: Ainsley is still listed in Lyon‘s squad data. He returned to the Highlanders in 2026, on two years.

Prop, 1.81m and 127kg, born in Clyde on 8 August 1995. His father, Joe McDonnell, won eight caps for the All Blacks in 2002, also as a prop.

He grew up in Cromwell and went to Otago Boys’ High School in Dunedin at twelve, starting as a centre and moving to prop as he grew. His family emigrated to Perth in 2013 and he followed after finishing school, playing club rugby for Nedlands and for Western Australia at Under-20 level.

Perth Spirit took him into the National Rugby Championship in 2015 and he won it with them in 2016. The Force called him up for 2016, where he debuted off the bench against the Rebels in February and started against the Brumbies a fortnight later.

After the expulsion he joined the Rebels for 2018 on one year, did well enough to be extended to 2020, and moved to the Highlanders in his native Otago for 2021. He played for Otago in the NPC that year and finally debuted for the Highlanders in 2022.

Australia capped him on 18 August 2018 against New Zealand in Sydney, his father’s country. He has three caps, none of them starts.

Lyon took him in 2024 on two seasons, and were beaten in the Challenge Cup final the following spring.