Scott Barrett will make his first All Blacks appearance of the year while Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett have both been named in the starting line-up to face Australia.
Head coach Dave Rennie has seen Ruben Love ruled out for the rest of the season and suffered another blow when his likely stand-in, Richie Mo’unga, was sidelined for the Bledisloe Cup opener.
McKenzie has therefore switched to fly-half after starting all seven Tests under Rennie at full-back with Barrett coming in at 15.
The former will partner Cam Roigard at half-back while the latter is in a back three which also includes Will Jordan and Leroy Carter.
With Fehi Fineanganofo injured, Carter gets the nod over Josh Moorby, who takes his place on the All Blacks bench for the opening Wallabies clash at Eden Park.
Finally in the backline, there is no surprise at centre where Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea, who has recovered from an MCL injury suffered in the third Springboks Test, once again combine.
Return of former skipper
Up front, the big news is the return of former captain Barrett with the back five forward immediately coming into the run-on side.
The 32-year-old took a non-playing sabbatical at the start of 2026 but his comeback was delayed due to a back issue which required surgery.
He is alongside Josh Lord in the engine room which means Tupou Vaa’i once again lines up at blindside flanker for New Zealand.
Despite an exceptional performance in the fourth Boks encounter, Ethan Blackadder misses out on the 23 and Peter Lakai gets the nod at openside with Wallace Sititi at number eight.
The starting team is completed by props Fletcher Newell and Ethan de Groot, who are either side of captain and hooker Codie Taylor.
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On the bench, Rennie has selected some hefty units highlighted by the return of Shannon Frizell, who has spent the past three seasons in Japan.
Frizell joins Asafo Aumua, George Bower, Pasilio Tosi and Anton Segner as the forward replacements, while Kyle Preston, Rieko Ioane and Moorby cover the backs.
“The Bledisloe Cup means a huge amount to this group. There’s a lot of history and pride tied up in it, and every Test against the Wallabies carries real weight for us,” the All Blacks boss said.
“We have huge respect for this Australian side and the way they have been playing. We know we’ll need to be at our best.
“We’ve been on the road for the last eight games, so the boys are rapt to be home and really looking forward to running out at Eden Park one last time this year.”
All Blacks team to face the Wallabies
All Blacks: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Josh Lord, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Shannon Frizell, 20 Anton Segner, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Josh Moorby
Date: Saturday, October 10
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:10 local (17:10 AEDT, 07:10 BST, 06:10 GMT, 08:10 SAST)
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (RFU), Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)