{"id":112125,"date":"2025-09-02T02:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T02:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/112125\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T02:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T02:07:12","slug":"the-all-blacks-problem-faingaanuku-can-help-solve-vs-boks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/112125\/","title":{"rendered":"The All Blacks problem Fainga’anuku can help solve vs Boks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After initially being ruled ineligible for All Blacks<\/a> selection in the Rugby Championship, Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku<\/a> is now in camp thanks to a caveat in the eligibility rules.<\/p>\n

The versatile back has returned from two seasons in the Top 14<\/a> with Toulon, but was denied immediate All Blacks availability due to his youth at the time of leaving New Zealand, which was following the 2023 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

But, as his Tasman Mako<\/a> midfield partner and fellow All Black Timoci Tavatavanawai<\/a> left the field just 19 minutes into their win over Otago<\/a> on the weekend, having suffered a broken arm, Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s eligibility was restored.<\/p>\n

The wing-cum-centre is one of a handful of players joining camp this week as injury replacements and cover, and joins at a time when there is significant doubt being cast over selections in his positions.<\/p>\n

Former All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg<\/a> was adamant Fainga\u2019anuku should be considered for the matchday 23 straight away, even with such a short lead-in for what may be the biggest Test of this World Cup cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst things first, if you are in this country playing rugby, you are eligible to play for anyone, I feel. That\u2019s it in a nutshell,\u201d Dagg said on his \u2018Scotty and Izzy\u2019 Sport Nation radio show.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, if you\u2019re in the environment and you\u2019re training, you have to be considered for selection. So, for me, it brought a whole lot of excitement bringing Leicester<\/a> back into the fold.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis strengths? Big boy, can catch a high ball, can play multiple positions, has a utility factor, and he\u2019s an experienced player at the highest level. He played at the Rugby World Cup<\/a> in 2023, and it was actually shocking that he left, but you can understand his reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it gives me a bit of confidence knowing that a man of his calibre is back\u2026 This is a guy that has no fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe offers so much over the ball \u2013 you think of jackling, I think that\u2019s where we got beaten to the punch in Argentina, just our ability to get over the ball and slow it down, particularly in those wide rucks. In the second Test, we just had no impact at the breakdown whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dagg\u2019s sentiment was backed up by his co-host, Scotty Stevenson, who played down any lingering concerns about Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s readiness for the international arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeicester Fainga\u2019anuku said this himself; he\u2019s just come out of the toughest club competition in the world, the Top 14. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any argument that that\u2019s not the toughest club competition in the world. For starters, it goes for 24 months straight, it\u2019s a ridiculously long competition, and he\u2019s come back and obviously, yes, he\u2019s playing NPC now, but he\u2019s got a body of work over the last 18 months which would rival anyone\u2019s workload in the All Blacks. In fact, it would absolutely eclipse it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After initially being ruled ineligible for All Blacks selection in the Rugby Championship, Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku is now in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-112125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}