All Blacks boss Scott Robertson has named his team to face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in the Autumn Nations Cup on Friday evening.
Robertson has made just two changes to the starting team that defeated England 22-24 at Twickenham Stadium last weekend.
World-class duo Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor both miss out on selection after sustaining concussions during the win over England and have therefore been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup quarter-final replay against Ireland.
Barrett and Taylor add to injury concerns
In their absence, Damian McKenzie and Asafo Aumua have been promoted to the All Blacks starting XV from the bench with George Bell and Stephen Perofeta named amongst the replacements.
Taylor and Barrett add to a growing injury list that currently includes flankers Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson and Dalton Papali’i.
Will Jordan starts at fullback in an unchanged back three that includes Caleb Clarke and Mark Tele’a, the latter retaining the starting role after scoring a brace of tries against England.
Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane are the starting centres once again with Cortez Ratima now partnering his Chiefs teammate McKenzie in the halfbacks.
Ardie Savea packs down at number eight with the brilliant Wallace Sititi named at blindside flanker yet again after his man of the match performance at Twickenham with Sam Cane completing the loose trio.
Scott Barrett captains the team from the second row where he is joined Tupou Vaa’i. Aumua slots in to fill Taylor’s void at hooker with Tyrel Lomax and Tamaiti Williams retained as the starting props.
Ethan de Groot is overlooked this week after he missed the match against England after failing to uphold the All Blacks standards as Robertson has once again backed Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Pasilio Tosi as the replacement props. Meanwhile, Bell is set to earn just his third cap if he appears from the bench.
Patrick Tuipulotu and Samipeni Finau are the other two forward replacements while Cam Roigard and Anton Lienert-Brown are joined by Perofeta as the backline players on the bench.
“This is a highly anticipated match that promises to bring all the intensity and passion that we have come to expect from these two rugby-mad nations, both on and off the field,” Robertson said.
“We are really pleased with how the squad has come through this week and our focus has turned quickly to this encounter post-England. We have trained well, and the players are fresh and ready to face a fierce challenge from the Ireland team.”
All Blacks team v Ireland
All Blacks: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements: 16 George Bell, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cam Roigard, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Stephen Perofeta
Date: Friday, November 8
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 20:10 GMT (Saturday, 09:10 NZDT)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
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