Four injured All Blacks headed by Jerome Kaino and Sam Whitelock are set to return for their last two Rugby Championship matches away to Argentina and South Africa.
Liam Messam and Ryan Crotty also came out of the infirmary to be in the 30-man squad named on Tuesday, while there is one newcomer in hooker Nathan Harris.
With Ma’a Nonu out for the rest of the year, after breaking an arm in the 14-10 win over South Africa last weekend, Malakai Fekitoa is likely to start at inside centre against Argentina.
Crotty, who coach Steve Hansen had indicated was the likely first choice to replace Nonu, is still recovering from a cheek fracture and will not join the squad until the Springboks Test on October 4.
Fekitoa has limited experience in the No.12 jersey, but Hansen has ruled out starting Ben Smith in the role even though he covered for Nonu last weekend.
The squad contains only three specialist locks – Whitelock, Brodie Retallick and Jeremy Thrush – with the injured Patrick Tuipolutu and Dominic Bird to return to the game by first playing provincial rugby in New Zealand.
Harris gets his chance to play his first All Blacks Test with incumbent starting hooker Dane Coles to return home after the Argentina Test for the birth of his child.
If the All Blacks beat Argentina, it will give them the Championship title for the third successive year.
Forwards: Dane Coles, Nathan Harris, Keven Mealamu, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Ben Franks, Owen Franks, Joe Moody, Brodie Retallick, Jeremy Thrush, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane, Jerome Kaino, Steven Luatua, Richie McCaw, Liam Messam, Kieran Read
Backs: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett, Colin Slade, Ryan Crotty, Conrad Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Charles Piutau, Julian Savea, Ben Smith.
The All Blacks play Argentina in La Plata on September 27 and South Africa in Johannesburg on October 4.
Chan Wee
Guest
@ DCNZ : not short of talent , but the identified guys seem to be injured. i think Jeff Allen And Ben Afeaki are injured. old man Tony is also out. Ben Y is still not considered fit enuf :)
Sylvester
Guest
I'm not sure about those stats. In person, Bird looks bigger than Whitelock in stature and at least as solidly built as Romano.
atlas
Guest
Aaron - his first season for Canterbury, his first game for them last month - they have him at 105kg, 1.97m. At just 20, plenty of time to add some weight.
Ball'n'all
Guest
Jiggles, AIG is a company and can't have a representative team in international rugby. One wonders about your mental capacity when you persist with this delusion in which you talk about a team that doesn't exist. Maybe seeking medical advice would be appropriate.
Ball'n'all
Guest
Maybe 10 times for me, but a cracking match. Really felt for the Boks when Habana limped off as he was on fire.
Jerry
Guest
Look at it this way - if that's the best sledging ammo opposing fans have got, the AB's are obviously doing something very right...
Old Bugger
Guest
dcnz Give him the benefit of the doubt that he trained the house down - we can't let the opposition think ABs are short on propping talent - they might get silly bugger ideas like they'd be dominating the AB scrum in the next game....gotta keep 'em honest instead of cocky aye mate....
Rugby Tragic
Guest
ask atlas......... he is THE MAN for AB gossip which is often correct! I sometimes wonder if he is on the NZRU board!
Jiggles
Roar Guru
Firstly, who is 'we'? Your profile says you support the AIGs. Secondly all I saw when the Wallabies first choice front row was on was a solid scrum. I saw the Argies not being able to cope with the height of Slipper and TPN. That's not the Wallabies problem. That's called good tactics.
DCNZ
Guest
I see that Charlie Fauminia is back in the squad. Has he been training hard and raising his fitness bar, or are we short of prop talent. Anyone got any intel please? thanks. dc nz
Aaron
Guest
Atlas, while the official stats claim that he's only 105 kgs, he looks and plays more like a 115kg lock. Certainly bigger , albeit shorter than a guy like Sam Whitelock. Some of these stats have not been updated in a long time I reckon.
kesmcc
Roar Pro
absolutely.
Batdown
Guest
IMO Die Hard, the tactic of using "trickery" at scrum time (which all international teams use to varying degrees btw!) can be hit or miss. This tactic unfortunately can either win you the game or lose it for you, some international referees see straight through this and penalize appropriately.
atlas
Guest
ignore it; schoolboy stuff - for some reason some Australian posters here on this forum remain sour that their team is officially named - ie sold out in their eyes - they are officially named the Qantas Waalabies, yet NZ did not sell any team naming rights for a far more lucrative sponsorship deal, and in their 12 year old spite these posters think it is the most hilarious thing since they discovered 'pee-pee' to call the All Blacks the AIGs. If you look at the quality of their posts . . . fairly obvious., just sour.
Redman
Guest
What's all the obsession with size, damn if a players better than next man or has attributes that the team needs, who really cares?
kesmcc
Roar Pro
whats with people calling them the "AIG'S"?? it's a sponsor, thats all
Buzzard
Guest
Tallest....
Jerry
Guest
He's tall, but he's not solid. Retalick has 10kg on him. Luke Romano has 8 kg on him and he's 2 inches shorter. Kieran Read is listed as being the same weight as Bird and he's 5 inches shorter.
Chan Wee
Guest
it worked coz the ref had no idea what was on at scrum-time. also without Lavanini the Argies lineout was next to nothing. the concern for them would be the injuries to front and 3rd rows. already without Matera, they lost Leguzimon as well. maybe he will be good to go in 2 weeks.
Chan Wee
Guest
that few games to get the cob-webs off, have been since 2011 season :P