Star fly-halves to face off in North v South clash

David Skippers

All Black stars Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga will go head-to-head in the eagerly-anticipated North v South clash in Wellington this weekend.

The two regularly featured alongside each other for the national team last year, with Barrett shifting to full-back to accommodate Mo’unga.

The two-time World Player of the Year continued in that position for the Blues in Super Rugby Aotearoa before moving back to pivot later in the campaign.

That was where Barrett impressed the most as the Aucklanders finished in second position and the 29-year-old may now be competing with the Crusader for the primary playmaking role.

Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett are the two full-backs, while the other big news sees Hoskins Sotutu return from injury to stake his claim for a place in the New Zealand squad.

North head coach John Plumtree said: “It’s an exciting squad that we’ve picked for this special match. There’s a huge amount of lot of talent in the side. There’s some real power in the forwards and some speed in the backs.

“The North has gelled together really well this week and the players are having a lot of fun. They’re really excited at the challenge against the South and certainly not lacking in any motivation. There will be a real intensity to the match with two really good teams going toe to toe.”

Brad Mooar, who is leading the South team, added: “It’s always hard to pick those in the 23 and all 28 in our squad could’ve been selected. We have a fantastic group of men who have all made the most of this week, building relationships and having fun with each other as well as learning new things and formulating our game plan. There’s been lots of good-natured banter between the teams and a lot of parochial rivalry.

“The only thing missing at the stadium will be the fans and we’re really disappointed we can’t share the experience there with them. We know there will be a huge audience watching at home so we hope they’ll enjoy what’s shaping up as match for the history books.”

The North v South match is steeped in history, with the first match played in 1897 (won by the North 16-3) and was last played in Dunedin in 2012 (won by the South 32-24). The 2020 match will be the 81st match with the Northerners having won 50 matches and the South 27, with three draws.

The teams:

North: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Ayden Johnstone, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 23 Mitchell Hunt

South: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Brayden Ennor, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Tom Sanders, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Mitchell Dunshea, 4 Samuel Whitelock (c), 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements: 16 Liam Coltman, 17 George Bower, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 20 Dillon Hunt, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Leicester Faingaanuku

Date: Saturday, September 5
Venue: Wellington Regional Stadium
Kick-off: 19:10 local (08:10 BST, 07:10 GMT)