Beauden Barrett will lead the All Blacks in a Test for the first time.
In July he could not get into the Test side. The ten changes around him show which games Dave Rennie is really picking for.
The All Blacks play Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday 14 November (kick-off 14.10 UK, 3.10am Sunday in New Zealand), with fullback Beauden Barrett captaining in his 149th Test and Richie Mo’unga back at first five-eighth.
Head coach Dave Rennie has made ten changes to the match-day 23 that beat Scotland 43-21 at Murrayfield. Ardie Savea is out for the rest of the year and Codie Taylor is rested, so the armband needed a new owner.
“Beauden brings such valuable experience and is massively respected by us all,” Rennie said when he named the team.
From the mid-week side to the armband
Rennie went to the most experienced man he had: 148 Tests, none of them as captain. That man was on the fringe four months ago.
NZ Herald’s Liam Napier records that Barrett missed all three July Tests and spent most of the tour of South Africa in the mid-week side. Injuries to Ruben Love and Mo’unga opened the door, and so did Damian McKenzie’s move from fullback to first five-eighth. Barrett has been in form against the Wallabies and Scotland since.
“Captaining the All Blacks in a Test is an honour that I know he doesn’t take lightly, so it’ll be a proud day for him and his whānau,” Rennie said. Scott Barrett, who captained the side under Scott Robertson, starts at lock and now takes his lead from his older brother.
Eight new starters, and a new pair at 9 and 10
Up front, George Bower and Asafo Aumua join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Josh Lord comes back in at lock. Anton Segner gets his first Test start at blindside, with Peter Lakai at openside and Wallace Sititi at No 8.
Cortez Ratima and Mo’unga form a new halves pairing, and Anton Lienert-Brown returns at 12 beside Quinn Tupaea. Fehi Fineanganofo starts a Test for the first time, on the right wing, with Josh Moorby on the left.
Jordie Barrett is not in the 23; he failed a HIA at Murrayfield last Saturday. Will Jordan is listed as injured with a hamstring problem.
The two debuts that have to wait
Playmaker Josh Jacomb and prop Saula Ma’u miss the 23 again. Napier’s reading is blunt: with tougher Tests later in the tour, neither is likely to play unless injuries force it.
Timoci Tavatavanawai is also out of the 23. With Lienert-Brown back, Tupaea kept on and Rieko Ioane able to cover both centre and wing from the bench, there was no room.
On that bench, four forwards are yet to play on this tour: Ethan Blackadder, Jamie Hannah, Xavier Numia and George Bell. Leicester Fainga’anuku is the one nobody can place yet: the Herald describes a new hybrid role for him.
Why Rennie stopped at ten
Wales have gone 73 years without beating New Zealand. Rennie could have rested Moorby, Lakai, Sititi and Newell as well. He kept all four.
The Nations Championship table explains it. The All Blacks want a bonus-point win to keep pressure on the Springboks for a place in the Nations Championship final. “We have selected a strong side with 783 caps,” Rennie said.
It is still a gamble. Eight new starters, two of them in a first Test start, is a lot of change to take to Cardiff, where Steve Tandy’s Wales will test the new men at scrum and lineout first.
The All Blacks team v Wales
- Backs: 15 Beauden Barrett (captain), 14 Fehi Fineanganofo, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Cortez Ratima
- Front row: 1 George Bower, 2 Asafo Aumua, 3 Fletcher Newell
- Locks: 4 Scott Barrett, 5 Josh Lord
- Back row: 6 Anton Segner, 7 Peter Lakai, 8 Wallace Sititi
- Replacements: front row George Bell (16), Xavier Numia (17) and Pasilio Tosi (18); Jamie Hannah (19), Ethan Blackadder (20), Leicester Fainga’anuku (21), Kyle Preston (22) and Rieko Ioane (23)
- Injured: Will Jordan (hamstring)
What happens next
Wales name Taine Basham at No 8 and Gloucester hooker Dewi Lake as captain. After Cardiff, the All Blacks move on to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, to face England the following weekend.
Barrett captains with England next on the list: should Rennie have rested Sititi and Lakai for Twickenham too?
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