A key All Blacks back has been ruled out of the Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies, while two heavyweight forwards return to the squad.
Ruben Love was omitted from Dave Rennie’s 34-man squad after suffering a foot injury, ruling the flyhalf out of Tests in Auckland on 10 October and Sydney a week later.
Richie Mo’unga, Beauden Barrett and Josh Jacomb are the flyhalf options in Love’s absence.
The All Blacks are also without captain Ardie Savea, whose 2026 season is over after he underwent surgery on the shoulder he dislocated during the third Test against the Springboks at FNB Stadium earlier this month. Hooker Codie Taylor will continue to captain the team in his absence.
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There is better news for Rennie up front, with Scott Barrett and Shannon Frizell returning to the Test squad after making their comebacks in the NPC.
Barrett, who captained the All Blacks under previous coach Scott Robertson, played for Taranaki against Hawke’s Bay at the weekend.
“He was jumping out of his skin to get out there, so good to see him get 50-odd minutes,” Rennie said.
Barrett is expected to play another 40 minutes against Wellington before the first Bledisloe Test, with Rennie confident the lock could manage a similar workload against Australia.
Frizell is back in the All Blacks squad for the first time since returning to New Zealand from Japan this year and impressed at No 8 for Tasman against Bay of Plenty.
“He’s certainly having an impact on the game, physically, but he has nice soft touches,” Rennie said. “He is going good.”
The All Blacks coach revealed that Frizell had been challenged to increase his involvement after an earlier NPC outing.
“We wanted to see more out of him after the 60-minute effort and gave him a call to let him know there were some things we wanted to see more of,” Rennie said. “Certainly getting back on his feet, getting back into the game quicker and more repeat efforts. And he was pretty solid.
“I think he has still got work to do around conditioning, but pretty confident he could give you a solid 40, 50 or 60 [minutes] type of thing.”
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Prop Ollie Norris, lock Patrick Tuipulotu, flank Luke Jacobson, centres Anton Lienert-Brown and Billy Proctor, and winger Caleb Clarke are among the other players unavailable through injury.
All Blacks squad
Backs: Cam Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Kyle Preston, Richie Mo’unga, Josh Jacomb, Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane, Fehi Fineanganofo, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Will Jordan, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie.
Forwards: Codie Taylor, Asafo Aumua, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Ethan de Groot, George Bower, Xavier Numia, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi, Scott Barrett, Josh Lord, Fabian Holland, Tupou Vaa’i, Simon Parker, Shannon Frizell, Anton Segner, Ethan Blackadder, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
The post All Blacks hit by Bledisloe blow appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
A key All Blacks back has been ruled out of the Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies, while two heavyweight forwards return to the squad.
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