Scott Robertson has made 10 changes to the All Blacks for the third test against France.
The team aims to build experience and depth, with no specialist lock on the bench.
Ruben Love makes his second appearance, supported by experienced wings Rieko Ioane and Sevu Reece.
Whatever aversion to risk Scott Robertson held in 2024, he’s cured himself of it entirely by selecting a team for the third test against France which is emphatically taking the opportunity to future-proof the All Blacks.
Caution hasn’t so much been thrown as hurled to the wind, withRobertson not only making 10 changes but also opting to operate with no specialist lock on the bench.
It’s a match-day 23 that fulfils the promise to play the whole squad in the French series and one that also says Robertson, having previously been reticent to veer too far from the established stars and known quantities within his squad, is now on a mission to build experience.
It’s also a definitive sign that he is now willing to pursue selection policies that align with his vision of having genuine depth in every position by the time 2027 swings around.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson: "We have got to trust them." Photo / Photosport
“We haven’t had the Dave Gallaher Trophy for some period of time, but once we held that up, it was really important to us to look at this next team,” Robertson said.
“The French have used a lot of players and they are a fierce opponent, a proud opponent, and it is going to be a hell of a week and we have got the right combination and balance to this group to respect them.”
As to whether this team reflects the lessons he and his fellow coaches took from last year – that they have to identify games in which they could field their fringe players and be brave enough to select them – he said: “Yeah, you do.
“We have got to trust them and they have always gone out there and performed. It is the ability to trust the young fellas and set them up to be successful and off you go.”
That would be an unfair reflection of both the talent and experience that is within the 23. The front row of Ethan de Groot, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Tyrel Lomax is world-class and has started a handful of tests previously.
The loose trio have 130 caps between them, and while Anton Lienert-Brown hasn’t played for eight weeks because of a broken collarbone, he will be making his 85th appearance for the All Blacks and has the high-performance discipline to ensure that he will hit the ground running, as it were.
Fullback Ruben Love is making only his second appearance, but he’s got two seasoned wings in Rieko Ioane and Sevu Reece to guide him through the game.
It’s a changed team, but not a wild card team. There is experience in all the key combinations and enough reason to believe that the set-piece will remain high-performing, and that the All Blacks have all the necessary players to deliver on all the key metrics.
The only real risk being taken is the lack of cover at lock. The option was there to put Naitoa Ah Kuoi on the bench, but that was rejected in favour of promoting Dalton Papali’i and running with Samipeni Finau as lock cover.
Asking Finau to cover a position he has occasionally played is evidence of Robertson’s commitment to his other long-term plan of building the versatility of players to have confidence in their ability to play two positions.
He’s looking into the future and thinking about the tour to South Africa next year, when there will be midweek games and inevitably that will create a need for some players to back up in quick succession and potentially play one position in one game and cover another in the next.
It’s also a real advantage to have utility forwards when it comes to picking World Cup squads. Therefore, the value in seeing whether Finau – who is rated a prospect at No 6 – can also genuinely cover lock at this level was deemed to be greater than capping Ah Kuoi, given the pre-existing depth among the specialist locks.
Naitoa Ah Kuoi missed out in Scott Robertson's selections. Photo / SmartFrame
The risk is that, if Finau has to shift into the second row, he could be exposed at scrum time. But that, in essence, is the point of the exercise: the All Blacks need to know whether he can serve as an international lock.
“He’s been awesome with us,” Robertson said of Ah Kuoi. “We considered Naitoa, but Samipeni finished the game last week at lock.
“It is good for us. I like to make sure players can play a couple of positions and he has learnt that the last three weeks, so he can do two roles – six and lock.”
