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Starters in Dunedin, Ian Foster has left out Chiefs back-rower Samipeni Finau and outside back Shaun Stevenson in his 33-man All Blacks World Cup squad.
There is no room for Brad Weber either, with Finlay Christie instead preferred.
Foster named the most experienced World Cup squad of all time (1,493 caps), featuring seven World Cup winners on Monday evening. Eighteen forwards and 15 backs were included.
There are three hookers, six props and four locks in the squad. Interestingly, Foster opted for just five back-rowers meaning Scott Barrett and Tupou Vaa’i could yet find themselves at blindside flanker.
Brodie Retallick was picked despite the World Cup-winner set to miss the opening couple of weeks of the tournament after coming off in the first half of Saturday’s 23-20 win over the Wallabies in Dunedin with a knee-injury. It means he will miss the All Blacks’ opener against France.
“Brodie’s knee is probably about a six-week [injury], but we’re not 100 per cent sure,” Foster said.
“Whether it’ll be round-one, round-two of the World Cup we’re not sure. But we really believe he’s earned his selection and we can manage that.”
Wingers Caleb Clarke, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Mark Telea and Emoni Narawa were each been named in the squad, which will compete with Will Jordan, who could also feature at fullback, for a place out wide.
Christie is one of three halfbacks in the squad, with Aaron Smith the favourite to start. Cam Roigard, who made his debut in the All Blacks’ 38-7 win over the Wallabies at the MCG, has also been included.
There are three No.10 options, with Richie Mo’unga to compete with versatile backs Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie. Barrett is the favourite to wear the No.15 jersey despite Jordan’s starring role in Bledisloe II.
Fit-again David Havili, meanwhile, comes in as one of four midfielders following Braydon Ennor’s injury on Saturday.
Sam Cane, who missed the Bledisloe opener in Melbourne, has been named captain. Ardie Savea is also in the squad and is likely to start in the back-row alongside the Chiefs openside flanker.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster (L) and captain Sam Cane following their Bledisloe Cup win in Dunedin. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)
Foster revealed the squad in Napier, with two-time World Cup winner Richie McCaw naming the squad.
The All Blacks are coming off an unbeaten start to the 2023, having locked away the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup.
Foster said he was confident the All Blacks were on track to push for a fourth Webb Ellis Cup.
“You can never be 100 per cent in this business,” he said.
“We all know what World Cups are like. We’ve just seen that in football with the USA team getting knocked out. We’ve seen it a netball. We know in World Cups you’ve just got to go and perform on the stage. Am I confident of where we’re at? Very confident.”
They will take on the Springboks at Twickenham on the final weekend of August, before taking on France at the Stade de France in Paris to kick start the World Cup on September 8.
Foster has called up Weber, Finau and 21-year-old hooker George Bell for the match against the Springboks, saying it was “always the plan to add three more for training reasons”.
The All Blacks have named 18 forwards in their 33-man World Cup squad. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Crusaders duo Joe Moody and Ethan Blackadder weren’t included after picking up injuries recently.
Asked how close the pair were, Foster said “very close”.
“They’ve both unfortunately got re-injuries the last couple of weeks and that’s sort of set them back a little bit,” the All Blacks boss said.
“We really felt, particularly like with Ethan, he’s not due to play for another sort three or four weeks. Moods is sooner than that. He’s about two weeks’ time.
“But with the combination of his time off and our program, having to go into that first part of this World Cup fully loaded, we just really want him to go and get some game time in the meantime. We’ve got a lot of faith, he’s a special player and he’s done a lot in this All Blacks jersey and hopefully there’s going to be an opportunity later for him.”
Brodie Retallick will miss around six weeks following his knee-injury against the Wallabies at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
World Cup winner Sir John Kirwan said he was surprised to see so many wingers in the squad but admitted there were few bombshell selections.
“For me, Finau, I thought he had done enough and I thought he played really, really well on the weekend,” Kirwan said on Sky’s The Breakdown.
“I’m ecstatic for Caleb Clarke because I thought he was going to be guy that might miss out because of the mix. They have taken a lot of outside backs.
“Moody, I thought might be taken for experience.”
ALL BLACKS SQUAD
Forwards: Scott Barrett, Sam Cane (c), Dane Coles, Ethan de Groot, Shannon Frizell, Luke Jacobson, Nepo Laulala, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Dalton Papalii, Brodie Retallick, Ardie Savea, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Codie Talyor, Ofa Tuʻungafasi, Tupou Vaa’i, Sam Whitelock, Tamiati Williams
Backs: Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett, Finlay Christie, Caleb Clarke, Leicester Fainga’anuku, David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Will Jordan, Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie, Richie Mo’unga, Emoni Narawa, Cam Roigard, Aaron Smith, Mark Telea
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