All Blacks selectors Scott Robertson, Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan have unveiled the 2025 Rugby Championship squad, naming four potential debutants as New Zealand prepares for a demanding campaign.<\/p>\n
Loose forward Simon Parker has been included in the 32-man group, while prop Tevita Mafileo, halfback Kyle Preston and utility back Leroy Carter have been named as injury cover. All four are in line for possible Test debuts.<\/p>\n
Robertson, entering his second Rugby Championship in charge, said the new faces have earned their shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimon Parker had an impressive Super Rugby season with the Chiefs and brings a valuable skill set and physicality,\u201d Robertson said Monday. \u201cHe can play blindside or No. 8 and has represented New Zealand at various levels. We believe he\u2019s ready for the step up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it\u2019s disappointing to lose players to injury, it opens the door for others. Mafileo, Preston and Carter have all been consistent and deserve the opportunity. We\u2019re excited to see what they can bring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robertson also welcomed back several key players from injury, including prop Tamaiti Williams, loose forward Wallace Sititi, and loose forward Peter Lakai. Halfback Finlay Christie and lock Josh Lord also return to the wider mix through injury cover.<\/p>\n
The All Blacks will open their campaign with back-to-back Tests against Argentina, starting Aug. 16 in C\u00f3rdoba. The squad departs for Argentina on Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
Injuries have sidelined several established names, including Tyrel Lomax, Luke Jacobson, Cam Roigard, Noah Hotham and Caleb Clarke, all of whom will remain in New Zealand during the Argentina leg of the competition. Ofa Tu\u2019ungafasi, Asafo Aumua and Stephen Perofeta are also unavailable.<\/p>\n
North American Rugby fans can catch the full Rugby Championship competition live and exclusively on FloRugby.<\/p>\n
2025 All Blacks Rugby Championship squad<\/p>\n
(*denotes uncapped)<\/p>\n
Hookers: Codie Taylor (34, Crusaders\/Canterbury, 98), Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho (27, Chiefs\/Waikato, 33), Brodie McAlister (28, Chiefs\/Canterbury, 1).<\/p>\n
Props: Ethan de Groot (27, Highlanders\/Southland, 32), Tamaiti Williams (24, Crusaders\/Canterbury, 18), Ollie Norris (25, Chiefs\/Waikato, 2), Tyrel Lomax (29, Hurricanes\/Tasman, 45), Fletcher Newell (25, Crusaders\/Canterbury, 25), Pasilio Tosi (27, Hurricanes\/Bay of Plenty, 9).<\/p>\n
Locks: Scott Barrett (31, Crusaders\/Taranaki, 81) (captain), Patrick Tuipulotu (32, Blues\/Auckland, 55), Tupou Vaa\u2019i (25, Chiefs\/Taranaki, 40), Fabian Holland (22, Highlanders\/Otago, 3).<\/p>\n
Loose Forwards: Samipeni Finau (26, Chiefs\/Waikato, 11), *Simon Parker (25, Chiefs\/Northland), Ardie Savea (31, Moana Pasifika\/Wellington, 97) (vice-captain), Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi (28, Hurricanes\/Wellington, 3), Wallace Sititi (22, Chiefs\/North Harbour, 10), Peter Lakai (22, Hurricanes\/Wellington, 3), Luke Jacobson (28, Chiefs\/Waikato, 24).<\/p>\n
Halfbacks: Cortez Ratima (24, Chiefs\/Waikato, 14), Cameron Roigard (24, Hurricanes\/Counties Manukau, 12), Noah Hotham (22, Crusaders\/Tasman, 2).<\/p>\n
First-Five Eighths: Beauden Barrett (34, Blues\/Taranaki, 136), Damian McKenzie (30, Chiefs\/Waikato, 64).<\/p>\n
Midfielders: Anton Lienert-Brown (30, Chiefs\/Waikato, 85), Jordie Barrett (28, Hurricanes\/Taranaki, 71) (vice-captain), Quinn Tupaea (26, Chiefs\/Waikato, 16), Billy Proctor (26, Hurricanes\/Wellington, 4), Timoci Tavatavanawai (27, Highlanders\/Tasman, 2).<\/p>\n
Outside Backs: Rieko Ioane (28, Blues\/Auckland, 83), Caleb Clarke (26, Blues\/Auckland, 29), Sevu Reece (28, Crusaders\/Southland, 34), Emoni Narawa (26, Chiefs\/Bay of Plenty, 3), Will Jordan (27, Crusaders\/Tasman, 44), Ruben Love (24, Hurricanes\/Wellington, 2).<\/p>\n
Injury Cover:\u00a0George Bower, *Tevita Mafileo, Josh Lord, Finlay Christie, *Kyle Preston, *Leroy Carter.<\/p>\n
How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby<\/p>\n
The URC will stream all its matches on FloRugby and the FloSports app in the United States. FloRugby and FloSports also are the U.S. home to:\u00a0<\/p>\n
FloRugby also is home to match archives and match replays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Join The Rugby Conversation On FloRugby Social<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Blacks selectors Scott Robertson, Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan have unveiled the 2025 Rugby Championship squad, naming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-42849","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\/42849","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=42849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}