All Blacks squad winners and losers including ‘world-class’ Will Jordan and ‘axed’ scrum-half
Split with All Blacks Will Jordan and Finlay Christie.
The All Blacks have named a 36-man squad for their first Rugby Championship with Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson at the helm of the side.
There is much to unpack from the New Zealand squad with Planet Rugby selecting our winners and losers from the group.
Winners
Will Jordan
Some of the best news coming out of New Zealand this year is the return of Jordan. The All Black is nothing short of world-class and has been since pulling on the black jersey for the first time. He is one of those players who has the remarkable ability to make something from nothing and change a game with a snap of his fingers.
When match fit, Jordan walks into this team and does so with a boatload of tries. It is a fascinating World Cup cycle for him as a more experienced player now under his former Crusaders coach, who absolutely loved throwing him at full-back during their time together in Christchurch. Whether or not that will happen at Test level remains to be seen but Razor will certainly be delighted to have his man back in action.
Sam Cane
A recall that has a lot of noise around it from the fans with the veteran’s last outing in black seeing him red carded in the 2023 World Cup final, before he headed to Japan instead of playing Super Rugby Pacific.
Now the drama from the World Cup final and his rocky tenure as skipper under Ian Foster may cloud the perception of Cane, but it must be remembered that the openside has long been a servant of the game for the All Blacks as his 95 caps suggest. He is set to hang up his Test boots at the end of the year and he truly deserves that century of caps.
We will see how much of a role Razor wants Cane to play but simply having his experience and leadership in the group is already beneficial to the squad.
David Havili
A selection that rivalled and probably surpassed the noise of Cane’s with many fans feeling Havili has not done the jersey justice when he has been given the chance. However, we saw how valuable the midfielder was for Razor at the Crusaders with the coach preferring to have a playmaking 12 supporting the fly-half.
Jordie Barrett is well entrenched in the 12 shirt and that is unlikely to change but Havili’s versatility across most of the backline makes him a clever choice in the squad, especially when the coach understands his game so well.
It might be controversial to some but Havili will only add value to the group.
Ruben Love
The only uncapped call-up and one just about everyone wanted. Love drew comparisons to the great Christian Cullen thanks to his scything running ability and all-around skill-set that cut defences open for the entirety of Super Rugby Pacific in 2024.
Love still has a lot to learn before he will be challenging for a starting spot but the ingredients for a future world-class player are there in generous quantities. There is this sense of inevitability about the youngster and he will only get better learning from the likes of Beauden Barrett and Jordan amongst other talented stars in the squad.
Expect big things from the Hurricane.
TJ Perenara
It was heartbreaking seeing the veteran being helped off the field during the first Test against England after such a promising start to his return following a lengthy injury period. However, despite the injury looking nasty at the time, the prolific scrum-half is back in action and ready for the Rugby Championship.
Perenara is a vastly experienced campaigner who is absolutely critical to the changing of the guard at half-back for the All Blacks. He may be 32 but has been up there with the best scrum-halves in Super Rugby Pacific and he looks primed to be an important player at the start of the Razor era.
It is always a pleasure to see TJ named in an All Blacks squad.
Newly capped stars
Razor has cleverly gone about blooding new talent early in his reign and all of those players get rewarded by retaining their spots.
Sam Darry comes into the squad on the back of Scott Barrett’s injury with Josh Lord as cover. The Blues second-row showed his class against Fiji on debut and looks to have plenty of caps in him. The quicker he gets up to speed the better for the lock situation.
George Bell crossed for his first try recently and continues as the third hooker with Pasilio Tosi continuing his work in the front-row while powerhouse Wallace Sititi remains in the project.
Cortez Ratima has grown in leaps and bounds never looking out of place at Test level with the same being said for Noah Hotham, both of whom play understudy for Perenara.
Finally, Billy Proctor gets the nod again after sparkling on debut. He will be looking for even more with Rieko Ioane’s 13 shirt not as secure as it has been in past.
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Losers
Finlay Christie
The scrum-half did go off injured against England but in the release, there is no mention of him being ruled out which suggests he has been axed.
New Zealand, despite the departure of Aaron Smith and injury to Cam Roigard, have an embarrassment of riches at nine but much of their talent like Hotham and Ratima still needs to be moulded which could have left the door open for Christie.
However, Perenara being cleared to play is enough to shift him out. We expect Christie to return to the All Blacks squad at some point as he is a quality player but Razor can’t be blamed for falling for the lure of the youthful duo.
Emoni Narawa
A victim of depth. Narawa is a really good runner of the ball and a brilliant wing in his own right but he is stuck behind Sevu Reece, Mark Tele’a, Caleb Clarke and now Jordan which is brutal.
It makes sense to send him back to his club for the NPC where he can get game time and be ready if required – injuries are part and parcel of the game meaning Narawa could still get his chance.
Hoskins Sotutu
Features editor Jared Wright pointed out why the Blues man missed out on the original squad and this became even more obvious during the England series.
Sotutu is a dynamic and exciting player but that is not what the All Blacks need in their pack right now. Razor is looking for more go-forward and post-contact metres from his forwards – an area where New Zealand struggled against England’s rush defence.
The number eight may have the ability to find other ways over the gain line but the power in the carry and promise of youngster Sititi is a more appropriate route right now.
Peter Lakai
The Hurricane has not yet been in the mix in his young career but there is a case for his inclusion over Cane’s. Now of course we vouched for Cane earlier in this article and the veteran does deserve his flowers but should that be at the expense of a rising star? Especially considering the veteran is set to retire at the end of the year.
What we know for sure is that Lakai’s time will come in the black jersey.
