No bolters or newbies selected for the All Blacks Northern Tour, with only one change to the 36-man Rugby Championship squad.
Hurricanes and Counties Manukau halfback Cam Roigard returns from the knee injury he sustained during the Super Rugby Pacific season and creates a halfback selection dilemma for the All Blacks coaches.
LATEST HEADLINES:
“It was fantastic to see Cam in great form for Counties in the weekend and we are excited to have him back in the mix," said All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson.
"Fellow halfbacks Cortez Ratima and TJ Perenara showed during the Rugby Championship that they deserve their spots in the squad, and this means Noah Hotham will be included in the All Blacks XV squad to be announced tomorrow, where he will be able to gain some valuable playing time.
“This Northern Tour is an exciting challenge, which will allow us to continue evolving our game and building a style of rugby that creates opportunities against some fierce competition.
“We have selected a squad that will bring consistency and continuity, while also achieving the right balance of giving newer talent the chance to develop within a team that has valuable experience against these northern hemisphere sides.”
In addition to the squad of 36, a small number of players from the All Blacks XV squad will travel to Japan with the All Blacks to help with their preparation and gain additional experience in the All Blacks environment, before joining up with the All Blacks XV squad to play Munster and Georgia in November.
This will also allow a group of players from the All Blacks squad to travel to England two days earlier to focus on preparation for the Northern Tour test matches.
The All Blacks squad will depart for Japan on October 17.
ALL BLACKS SQUAD
Hookers
Asafo Aumua (Hurricanes/Wellington), Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury), George Bell (Crusaders/Canterbury)
Props
Ethan De Groot (Highlanders/Southland), Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes/Tasman), Fletcher Newell (Crusaders/Canterbury), Pasilio Tosi (Hurricanes/Bay of Plenty), Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Blues/Northland), Tamaiti Williams (Crusaders/Canterbury)
Locks
Scott Barrett (Crusaders/Taranaki) (Captain), Tupou Vaa’i (Chiefs/Taranaki), Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues/Auckland), Sam Darry (Blues/Canterbury)
Loose forwards
Ethan Blackadder (Crusaders/Tasman), Sam Cane (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty), Samipeni Finau (Chiefs/Waikato), Luke Jacobson (Chiefs/Waikato), Dalton Papali’i (Blues/Counties Manukau), Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika/Wellington) (Vice Captain)
Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)
Halfbacks
Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau), TJ Perenara (Hurricanes/Wellington),
Cortez Ratima (Chiefs/Waikato)
First-fives
Beauden Barrett (33 / Blues / Taranaki / 131)
Damian McKenzie (29 / Chiefs / Waikato / 56)
Midfielders
Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes/Taranaki) (Vice Captain), David Havili (Crusaders/Tasman),
Rieko Ioane (Blues /Auckland), Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs/Waikato), Billy Proctor (Hurricanes/Wellington)
Outside backs
Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland), Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman), Ruben Love (Hurricanes/Wellington), Stephen Perofeta (Blues/Taranaki), Sevu Reece (Crusaders/ Southland), Mark Tele’a (Blues/North Harbour)
ALL BLACKS FIXTURES
Saturday, October 26: All Blacks vs Japan, 6.50pm (NZT), Nissan Stadium, Yokohama
Sunday, November 3: All Blacks vs England, 4.10am (NZT), Twickenham Stadium, London
Saturday, November 9: All Blacks vs Ireland, 9.10am (NZT), Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Sunday, November 17: All Blacks vs France, 9.10am (NZT), Stade de France, Paris
Sunday, November 24: All Blacks vs Italy, 9.10am (NZT), Allianz Stadium, Turin