Snubbed All Blacks loose forward Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi will start at inside centre for Wellington in Saturday\u2019s National Provincial Championship (NPC) game against Auckland at Western Springs.<\/p>\n
Wellington head coach Trent Renata announced his matchday on Wednesday and Kirifi\u2019s selection in his new position was the big talking point.<\/p>\n
Forced to move due to injuries<\/p>\n
Kirifi<\/a>, who usually plies his trade on the openside flank, has been moved to his new backline position due to injuries in Wellington\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n The Lions started their NPC campaign with a 52-33 home loss to Hawke\u2019s Bay last week while Auckland suffered a 38-31 defeat against Canterbury in their tournament opener in Christchurch.<\/p>\n After playing a leading role for the Hurricanes during their triumphant Super Rugby Pacific campaign, Kirifi was a shock omission from All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie\u2019s 44-man squad for their Greatest Rivalry tour to South Africa.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes co-captain was a regular in the All Blacks<\/a> squad under former head coach Scott Robertson last year but hasn\u2019t got a look-in under Rennie<\/a> despite his strong performances in Super Rugby Pacific.<\/p>\n Instead, Rennie retained Ardie Savea, Anton Segner, Luke Jacobson, Wallace Sititi, Simon Parker and Peter Lakai as his loose forwards after they were all on duty during the Nations Championship last month, while also bringing in Crusaders stalwart Ethan Blackadder and the uncapped Semisi Tupou Ta\u2019eiloa.<\/p>\n At the time, Rennie admitted that that Kirifi is a \u2018good player\u2019 and performed well for the Hurricanes in 2026, he feels there is sufficient cover for the openside flanker position.<\/p>\n Loose Pass: Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry tour\u2019s possible impact on the game\u2019s medium-term future<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI spoke to a handful of guys, so I\u2019m not going to go into those in massive detail, but as you\u2019ve seen with the guys that we used in the Nations Championship, those boys fronted well for us,\u201d the All Blacks boss explained.<\/p>\n \u2018Dups is a good player\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cLuke, Anton, Peter Lakai, and Ardie can all play seven, and Dups is a good player; he had a good season, but there are good players who have missed the squad, not just him.<\/p>\n \u201cHis job is to go away, keep working hard, and be ready if an opportunity arises. I\u2019d be surprised if we don\u2019t call someone in at some stage.\u201d<\/p>\n