{"id":41378,"date":"2025-08-03T22:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T22:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/41378\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T22:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T22:37:09","slug":"paul-lewis-the-bolter-that-would-add-depth-to-all-blacks-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/41378\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Lewis: The bolter that would add depth to All Blacks pack"},"content":{"rendered":"

The question of who will come into the squad is blurred somewhat by the fact so many were injured and replaced during the French series. <\/p>\n

More than 33 were required, with prop George Bower, loose forwards Christian Lio-Willie and Dalton Papali\u2019i, plus wing Emoni Narawa pressed into service.<\/p>\n

Injured out of Argentina and possibly longer are halfback Cam Roigard, tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax, loosie Luke Jacobson, halfback Noah Hotham and wing Caleb Clarke. Bower should remain Lomax\u2019s replacement and it seems likely the Hurricanes\u2019 Peter Lakai will come in for Jacobson.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

The replacements for Roigard, Hotham and Clarke will be intriguing, particularly at halfback. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame Hotham was injured, as he was putting together a good case to become No 2 halfback to Roigard \u2013 his mazy running style ideal off the bench for the All Blacks\u2019 high-octane approach. It\u2019s likely the selectors will plump for the international experience of the Blues\u2019 Finlay Christie, even though he is said to be off to Britain \u2013 rather than blooding new players such as Xavier Roe and Kyle Preston or recalling Folau Fakatava. Preston has a chance \u2013 he has a good kicking and support game.<\/p>\n

Discover more<\/p>\n

So assuming the four casualties will be replaced, there\u2019s still room for three more players. Parker could be one, a lock another, perhaps as a preliminary to captain Scott Barrett\u2019s sabbatical next year and a response to his recent calf tear and battering taken by his 81-test body.<\/p>\n

Barrett is expected to be available for the first test against the Pumas but could be rested in the second. <\/p>\n

Josh Lord could come back into the squad, hopefully for an extended period without injuries affecting his progress. Sam Darry was on the bench for Canterbury\u2019s 33-15 win in Wellington yesterday, though might need more rugby to be considered.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the unlucky Clarke\u2019s spot on the wing may go to Narawa \u2013 though the panel haven\u2019t yet seemed totally convinced of his worth; his place may depend on whether the brains trust want to give Rieko Ioane another chance at wing. He and Sevu Reece ended up the two specialist wings in the previous squad \u2013 which looked a little imbalanced out wide. <\/p>\n

Clarke didn\u2019t play, Will Jordan was preferred at fullback (correctly), there remain doubts about Reece at top level and Ioane hasn\u2019t yet shone in his old position. The All Blacks have ample cover for fullback but not many fast, finishing wings also able to deal with the high ball.<\/p>\n

Even if Reece is retained, the selectors may feel the need to trial contenders at wing. If he\u2019d played much top rugby lately, Caleb Tangitau would be a prospect, but it may be that Chiefs wing Leroy Carter is of interest. He is due to play for Bay of Plenty today \u2013 but as a centre.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

That aside, the prospect of new All Blacks seems muted, though it must be said that much of the new blood brought in for the French series was successful. Hooker Brodie McAlister, prop Ollie Norris and fullback Ruben Love earned decent pass marks, while new lock Fabian Holland achieved the biggest of ticks.<\/p>\n

Lakai\u2019s return to the squad may also obviate the need for Christian Lio-Willie \u2013 who played well enough against the French without necessarily claiming a permanent spot. That may open the door wider for Parker, as No 8 is well covered, with Wallace Sititi returning and Lakai also competent there (plus Ardie Savea, if needed). <\/p>\n

Interestingly, Parker packed down at No 8 last night for Northland in their Ranfurly Shield challenge in Taranaki \u2013 another strong string to his bow.<\/p>\n

Chiefs colleague Samipeni Finau has not yet totally convinced at All Blacks level, though his last outing was his best so far. Parker\u2019s arrival could give the Waikato franchise three blindside flankers in the same squad \u2013 surely something of a record, if it happens that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The question of who will come into the squad is blurred somewhat by the fact so many were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[36441,36435,3265,64,63,9658,36433,9663,5386,14012,17954,791,8848,36442,36440,36436,8843,10805,1911,36439,760,2174,36443,36437,85,9677,9501,320,319,24080,1050,36438,36434],"class_list":["post-41378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-36man","tag-add","tag-all","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-blacks","tag-bolter","tag-championship","tag-chiefs","tag-depth","tag-forward","tag-lewis","tag-long","tag-loose","tag-made","tag-might","tag-pack","tag-parker","tag-paul","tag-room","tag-rugby","tag-shot","tag-simon","tag-something","tag-sports","tag-squad","tag-that","tag-the","tag-to","tag-today","tag-will","tag-wonder","tag-would"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41378","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=41378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}