{"id":528640,"date":"2026-07-16T08:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/528640\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T08:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:05:13","slug":"all-blacks-v-ireland-tupou-vaai-returns-to-loose-forwards-as-dave-rennie-names-side-to-defend-eden-park-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/528640\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks v Ireland: Tupou Vaa\u2019i returns to loose forwards as Dave Rennie names side to defend Eden Park record"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 26-year-old hasn\u2019t played in the loose forwards since last August, when he started at No 6 in a historic 29-23 loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires<\/a> \u2013 New Zealand\u2019s first loss to Los Pumas away from home.<\/p>\n

His shift has also seen a new locking combination, as Patrick Tuipulotu and Josh Lord form the second row, with no cover on the bench. Tuipulotu had been named to play in Christchurch<\/a>, but was withdrawn on game day with a calf issue that saw Jamie Hannah debut off the bench.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Josh Moorby is elevated from the reserves into the starting XV, after an outstanding cameo on debut against Italy<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Quinn Tupaea also returns to the starting side after sitting out the Wellington game, and takes the place of Billy Proctor at centre. Despite missing training earlier in the week<\/a>, Jordie Barrett has been passed fit to take his usual spot at No 12. <\/p>\n

On the bench, Xavier Numia and Fletcher Newell both return to reinforce the front row, while Asafo Aumua returns as the reserve hooker. Lakai returns after sitting out in Wellington. Caleb Clarke comes back into the matchday 23 after starting in Christchurch. <\/p>\n

Barring injuries, the selections for Eden Park will mean the trio of Beauden Barrett, Kyle Preston and Simon Parker are the only players in the initial 34-man squad not to have seen any game time during this international window. <\/p>\n

\u201cIreland have been one of the best sides in the world for a number of years now,\u201d Rennie said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are very experienced and well-coached and will have belief on the back of their recent success here. We are well aware of the challenge they pose. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have selected a strong team that allows some of the combinations we have tested to continue building, and rewards players who have impressed over the last two rounds, including some of our recent debutants. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how important our bench will be against a team as tenacious as Ireland, so have selected players who we know are capable of making an impact and influencing the course of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks: 1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Josh Lord, 5. Patrick Tuipulotu, 6. Tupou Vaa\u2019i, 7. Luke Jacobson, 8. Ardie Savea (c), 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Ruben Love, 11. Josh Moorby, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Quinn Tupaea, 14. Will Jordan, 15. Damian McKenzie<\/p>\n

Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Xavier Numia, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Anton Segner, 20. Peter Lakai, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Caleb Clarke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 26-year-old hasn\u2019t played in the loose forwards since last August, when he started at No 6 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[249915,5263,806,8136,9635,10806,8142,217468,8019,114231,21409,111,139,69,8143,1974,138234,6443,1534,6102,213,61,48654,48655],"class_list":["post-528640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-710pm","tag-all","tag-as","tag-blacks","tag-dave","tag-defend","tag-eden","tag-forwards","tag-ireland","tag-loose","tag-names","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-park","tag-record","tag-rennie","tag-returns","tag-saturday","tag-side","tag-sports","tag-to","tag-tupou","tag-vaai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}