Foster and Hart were made Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby and to sports governance, respectively, while Whitelock was made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to rugby and the community.
Whitelock, who retired after last year's Rugby World Cup final in France, played a record-breaking 153 Tests since making his debut in 2010. He shared in two Rugby World Cup wins in 2011 and 2015 and was also a member of the side that finished third in the 2019 World Cup and second in Paris last year.
Whitelock and his locking companion broke the world record for starts as a combination in Test matches when they played their 64th Test together against England in 2022.
John Hart has a storied reputation in rugby coaching. He made his mark first with the record-breaking Auckland Ranfurly Shield team in 1985. He was part of the outstanding coaching trio with Sir Brian Lochore and Alex Wyllie, who were at the helm of the 1987 All Blacks World Cup success.
While twice overlooked for the coaching role, he was named in 1996 and oversaw New Zealand's first series win on South African soil. He remained in the role until the 1999 Rugby World Cup when the All Blacks suffered one of the significant Cup upset losses to France in the semifinals.
Since then, he has held leadership positions with the New Zealand Warriors rugby league and as chairman of the New Zealand PGA Pro-Am organising committee.
Ian Foster moved into coaching after playing 148 games for Waikato and playing for the Chiefs in the first three seasons of Super Rugby. He coached Waikato in 2002-03 and the Chiefs from 2004-11. Foster had a stint with the Junior All Blacks in 2005-07 and was appointed All Blacks assistant coach to Sir Steve Hansen in 2012. He continued in the role until 2019, when he was head coach from 2020-2023, seeing New Zealand to second place in the Rugby World Cup in France.