All Blacks Bledisloe Cup Squad: Codie Taylor Captains as Barrett and Frizell Return

Rennie’s Rebuilt Roster: Injuries, Inclusions and selection Intrigue

Dave Rennie has named a 34-man All Blacks squad for the two-Test Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies, and it’s a squad shaped as much by the physio room as by the selection table. The panel of Rennie, Sir Graham Henry and Neil Barnes has kept 31 of the original 44 players named for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, and it’s a 19-forward, 15-back split. The All Blacks have confirmed the group ahead of the opening Test at Eden Park on Saturday, October 10.

Captain Codie: Taylor Takes the Armband

With Ardie Savea sidelined by a shoulder injury, hooker Codie Taylor gets the captaincy for the series. He first led the side in a Test in Baltimore against South Africa and served as Tour Captain during the Greatest Rivalry run, so this is less a promotion than a formality. Rennie called him a top man with huge mana, and Taylor talked up the honour and thanked his whānau. He also paid tribute to Savea, saying the group is gutted he’s absent and wants to make him proud.

Taylor is 35 and has 112 Test caps, so the eye-test says he’s still got plenty of miles left in the tank.

The Returnees: Big Barrett and Fearsome Frizell

Two headline inclusions have fans talking:

• Scott Barrett (Lock, 32, 89 caps): Back after a long stretch on the sidelines that took in a sabbatical, back surgery and a recent run with Taranaki in the Hilux NPC. Rennie says the squad is thrilled to have his experience and leadership back. He will not resume the captaincy, which lets him focus purely on earning a starting lock spot.
• Shannon Frizell (Loose Forward, 32, 33 caps): His first All Blacks squad since 2023. He returns from Japan after re-signing with New Zealand Rugby, and he played for Tasman in the Hilux NPC. Rennie flagged his Test experience and physical impact.

Frizell’s recall has already got tongues wagging, and it’s a fair debate. NPC games aren’t a mountain of evidence. But the blindside jersey has been a rotating door for about a decade, and Frizell might be the magic bullet the No. 6 spot has been chasing. His arrival could also let Tupou Vaa’i settle at lock, where he prefers to play, rather than filling the blindside out of necessity.

The Injury Ward: Eight Down

The casualty list is long enough to need its own postcode:

• Ruben Love (first five-eighth): ankle ligament
• Patrick Tuipulotu (lock): calf strain
• Ardie Savea (loose forward): shoulder, sustained in the third Test, and likely out for the rest of the season
• Luke Jacobson (loose forward): elbow, also likely done for the year
• Anton Lienert-Brown (midfielder): knee
• Billy Proctor (midfielder): shoulder
• Caleb Clarke (outside back): shoulder
• Ollie Norris (prop): knee

Love’s absence hurts most on the playmaking front. Richie Mo’unga (32, 57 caps) is expected to reclaim the starting ten jersey, with the uncapped Josh Jacomb as the other first-five. Jacomb played two franchise games on the tour and is the only player in the squad without a Test cap. Beauden Barrett (35, 145 caps) is also in the mix as a playmaker, though he’s listed as an outside back. Potentially he’s there for leadership and mentoring, including for young players like Jacomb, and that his actual match role over the two Tests is yet to be revealed. Rennie’s other option is Damian McKenzie, who can cover fullback and the ten jersey.

Anton Segner and Quinn Tupaea both recovered from minor injuries and made the cut.

Who Missed Out: Darry and Narawa Left on the Outer

Lock Sam Darry of the Blues and Chiefs outside back Emoni Narawa are the notable omissions. Darry did nothing wrong on tour, and it appears the selectors have committed to four locks: Barrett, Josh Lord, Fabian Holland and Vaa’i. Given the current injury rate and the end-of-year UK Tests, expect him to be back in the frame sooner rather than later. Noel Botham, who joined as touring cover, also dropped back out.

The Projected Run-On: Eden Park XV

Reading the tea leaves, the first Test lineup could look something like this:

• Front row: Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor (C), Tyrel Lomax
• Locks: Fabian Holland and Tupou Vaa’i, with Scott Barrett pushing hard
• Loose forwards: Ethan Blackadder and Peter Lakai locked in, on the back of their Baltimore form, last spot TBC
• Halves: Cam Roigard and Richie Mo’unga
• Midfield: Jordie Barrett at 12 and Quinn Tupaea at 13, subject to full fitness
• Back three: Will Jordan, Damian McKenzie at fullback, and an open audition between Leroy Carter and Josh Moorby for the other wing spot

The Bigger Picture: Bledisloe Cup Pressure at Eden Park

The All Blacks have held the Bledisloe Cup continuously since 2003, and Rennie said as much, noting they don’t take it for granted. He also called the Wallabies a very experienced side who’ve played a lot of Test footy together. Rennie said the team is excited to start the series in front of a home crowd after eight consecutive games on the road. The squad assembles in Auckland on Sunday.

For the Wallabies, Rugby Australia will be hoping the injury toll on the other side of the ditch bites, while the Eden Park atmosphere will be its usual fortress. Even so, this is a squad with real quality in the engine room and firepower out wide, injuries or not, and the Wallabies will be missing Taniela Tupou and Tom Hooper now that the international window has shut, and potentially both Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau thru suspension and injury respecitvely.

Hopefully reports of Ikitau being good to go on X via Christy Doran prove true.

Should be a ripper.