Coach Scott Robertson has been forced to make a late change to the All Blacks starting XV for Saturday’s second Test against France in Wellington.
Caleb Clarke’s All Blacks recall has been delayed after the winger suffered an ankle injury during Thursday’s training run. He will miss the rest of the series.
Chiefs winger Emoni Narawa, initially named in the All Blacks squad as injury cover, comes into the side on the right wing while Rieko Ioane moves to the left, where he played in the 31-27 win in Dunedin.
The late shift comes as captain Scott Barrett and wing Sevu Reece also sit out through injury. Stand-in skipper Ardie Savea, speaking at the end of a rain-soaked captain’s run at Sky Stadium, said Clarke’s injury was “really unfortunate”.
“He’d been training well all week, and it was just a freak accident. [Narawa] just stepped in and he’s flawlessly doing his job. When you’re in the All Blacks, if someone goes down, you have to be ready to step up.”
It wasn’t a vintage All Blacks performance a week ago in Dunedin, with Robertson’s team struggling to dominate against a France team with 20 debutants in the 42-man squad.
New Zealand did have three tries disallowed, but errors or ill discipline put paid to their efforts.
“I think we’ve just got to be more clinical and play in the right areas of the field,” Savea said of Saturday’s second fixture. “Credit to the French, last week they put us under pressure and they stayed with us, so we’ve got to be clinical in the right areas of the field and finish.”
France made 10 changes to the starting side for the second Test, and expectation is high that in wet and windy conditions they could cause a major headache for the hosts.
“We’ve learned that any team that the All Blacks play, they turn up, play their best footy,” Savea said. “We saw that with the French last week. For us it doesn’t matter who we play, we’ve just got to turn up because we know they’re going to be great on the weekend.”
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Back in France, All Blacks legend Ma’a Nonu had signed a new one-year contract with Toulon to continue playing until the age of 44.
Savea followed the same pathway to the All Blacks as Nonu, starting with Rongotai College in Wellington before moving to club rugby, Wellington’s provincial team, and then the Hurricanes in Super Rugby.
“He’s a community man and when he came around to the club rooms when I was a little kid, he gave everyone a whole buzz,” Savea said.
“For him to still be playing, mate, someone needs to study him. He’s been massive and huge. He was our light in our community to go all the way and be a great All Black, so yeah, huge inspiration. Still my idol to this day.”
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Would Savea follow Nonu’s footsteps further, and still be playing in 2038, at age 44.
“I don’t know. You’ve got to ask my wife.”
ALL BLACKS – 15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea (c), 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Bench: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Damian McKenzie.
FRANCE – 15 Leo Barre, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 11 Emilien Gailleton, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Esteban Abadie, 7 Jacobus van Tonder, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Matthias Halagahu, 4 Joshua Brennan, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaëtan Barlot (c), 1 Baptiste Erdocio.
Bench: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Thibault Daubagna, 23 Antoine Hastoy.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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