All Blacks Name 44-Strong Squad for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour

Dave Rennie has shown his hand. The All Blacks Head Coach, alongside fellow selectors Sir Graham Henry and Neil Barnes, has named a 44-man squad for the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour. It is so good to see the word tour included, that’s real rugby. It’s an eight-match odyssey through South Africa and the United States that promises to be the toughest test New Zealand rugby has faced in a generation.

All 34 players from the Nations Championship Southern Series squad have been retained, with ten additions bolstering the group for what is a seven-week campaign. It’s the first full New Zealand tour of South Africa since the historic 1996 series, and the scale of the selection reflects the physical toll of an itinerary that includes four URC franchise matches, against the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions before four Tests against the Springboks, the last of them making history as the first All Blacks–Springboks encounter ever played on American soil, at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.

Three uncapped players get their shot: prop Siale Lauaki, loose forward Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa and first five-eighth Josh Jacomb. Tupou Ta’eiloa’s inclusion is no surprise to those who’ve followed his rise, a viral schoolboy try at 16, a stint touring South Africa with the Under-20s, and an explosive debut Super Rugby season with Moana Pasifika under the watchful eye of Ardie Savea and Tana Umaga. He racked up more minutes than anyone else in the squad this year.

There are welcome recalls too, with Ollie Norris, George Bell, Fabian Holland, Ethan

Blackadder, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane and Emoni Narawa all returning to the fold. Tamaiti Williams, Scott Barrett and Leicester Fainga’anuku miss out through injury.

One notable wrinkle: captain Ardie Savea won’t be on the plane straight away. Rennie has opted to give his skipper an extended break after a heavy couple of seasons, with Savea set to link up with the squad in South Africa ahead of the first Test rather than fronting the franchise matches. It hands the captaincy reins, at least temporarily, to other leaders in the group, a chance for someone to stake a claim before the Springboks come calling.

The tour kicks off in Cape Town on 7 August against the Stormers, and from there it only gets heavier. Given the history between these two nations, a rivalry that predates professionalism itself, this squad has been built for a fight as much as for rugby.

Who do you fancy to come through this tour with reputation enhanced, one of the uncapped trio, a recalled veteran, or a stand-in captain seizing their moment? Let us know in the comments.