Ten capped All Blacks named in XV squad to head north

The All Blacks XV squad for matches against Munster and Georgia has been named, with 10 capped All Blacks in the 29-player group, ahead of their northern tour.

Standout Blues loose forward Hoskins Sotutu has been named, after being passed over for the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship and northern tour squads. Chiefs fliers Shaun Stevenson and Emoni Narawa are in with a chance to make their way back into the All Blacks environment, after also being overlooked this year by Scott Robertson and his coaching staff.

Promising Hurricanes loose forward Peter Lakai gets a nod, as does six-test lock Josh Lord, with the All Blacks XV opting to mix youth and experience in the forward pack.

A notable omission comes in the front row with Taranaki and Blues hooker Ricky Riccitelli missing out on selection after he too was a standout in the Blues’ title-winning Super Rugby Pacific season.

A small number of players from the All Blacks XV squad will travel early to Japan with the All Blacks to help with their preparation and gain additional experience in the test environment, before joining up with the All Blacks XV squad to play Munster and Georgia in November.

The squad was jointly selected by the All Blacks and All Blacks XV coaching groups, with the process led by respective head coaches Scott Robertson and Clayton McMillan.

McMillan will be helped by All Blacks XV assistants Cory Jane, Jamie Mackintosh and David Hill.

The All Blacks XV squad will depart for Ireland on October 26 (non-NPC finalists) and October 27 (NPC finalists).

All Blacks XV fixtures
Sunday November 3 – All Blacks XV v Munster, 6.30am NZT, Thomond Park Limerick, Ireland.

Monday November 11 – All Blacks XV v Georgia, 2.00am NZT, GGL Stadium, Montpellier, France.

Both matches will be available live on Sky Sport in New Zealand.

Internationally, the All Blacks XV v Munster match will be available to stream live and free on New Zealand Rugby’s streaming service, NZR+, in more than 150 countries excluding New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.

The match against Georgia will be available to stream live and free on NZR+, excluding New Zealand and Georgia.

All Blacks XV squad (Age/Super Rugby Pacific franchise/Province)
*denotes All Blacks cap

Forwards (17)

Props
Xavier Numia, George Dyer, Saula Ma’u, Marcel Renata, George Bower*

Hookers
Brodie McAlister, Kurt Eklund, Bradley Slater

Locks
Josh Lord*, Fabian Holland, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Naitoa Ah Kuoi

Loose Forwards
Du’Plessis Kirifi, Peter Lakai, Hoskins Sotutu*, Oliver Haig, Christian Lio-Willie

Backs (12)

Halfbacks
Noah Hotham*, Finlay Christie*

First five-eighths
Harry Plummer*, Josh Jacomb

Midfielders
Quinn Tupaea*, Riley Higgins, AJ Lam, Dallas McLeod*

Outside Backs
Kiniviliame Naholo, Emoni Narawa*, Chay Fihaki, Shaun Stevenson*

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission