At 21, Josh Lord was the youngest player named in the first All Blacks squad for 2022. Photo / Photosport
At 21, Josh Lord was the youngest player named in the first All Blacks squad for 2022. Photo / Photosport
Josh Lord will happily admit his chance with the All Blacks has come a lot sooner than he might have expected it.
Called in as an injury replacement to join the side on their End of Year tour in 2021, the young lock went from being a player many earmarkedas a player for the future to being a player for the now.
"It was huge, eh," Lord tells the Herald of his call-up late last year. "Being surrounded by the best players in the world – for myself, you've got Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick in there, so learning off them every day, it's massive.
"It's definitely gone a lot quicker than I definitely thought it would have, but I'd never turn the opportunity down. At the end of the day, I'll keep on learning and keep on getting better."
Lord's rise into the national ranks was a massive one. He only made his debut for Taranaki in the National Provincial Championship in 2019 before being named in the Chiefs' wider squad for the 2020 season. It wasn't until 2021 that he earned his first cap at Super Rugby level.
However, his talent and ability on the pitch has caught plenty of attention since then and, after getting a phone call last year to inform him of his inclusion in the team, earlier this week he heard his named read out as a member of the All Blacks' squad for the first time – one of five locks selected to take on Ireland next month.
Josh Lord made his All Blacks debut against the USA in 2021. Photo / Photosport
Impressively, Lord was one of three locks from the Chiefs to be included in the squad alongside Retallick and Tupou Vaa'i. Despite the Chiefs having a very strong locking group, the trio found enough opportunity to flaunt their talents for the selectors.
"I think at the end of the day we've got five locks down there (Retallick, Vaa'i, Laghlan McWhannell, and Naitoa Ah Kuoi) and we're all trying to get into that 23. Obviously with footy, there's always going to be injuries so at the end of the day I just had to put my hand up for selection and see what happens from there.
"I definitely went a lot better than last year, I felt like; one year wiser. Hopefully I can just keep on building and see where things go from there."
Still just 21-years-old, Lord is the youngest player in the 36-strong wider squad named for the series against Ireland – though youth is something of a theme across the board with coach Ian Foster's latest squad.
The All Blacks have shown they are starting to usher in the next generation of talent to the international set up while still keeping their core squad intact ahead of next year's World Cup. Of the 36 named in the squad on Tuesday, 13 of those players are 25 or younger, and the squad also featured six players yet to earn an international cap. Every position in the squad features either an uncapped player or one aged 25 or younger.
"It's a squad that has enough of an eye to the future with what we're looking at," Foster said.
"There's a bit of pragmatism about it, and it's getting the balance between making sure we give the new players the best opportunity to play well by having a bit of experience around them."
All Blacks 25 or younger Josh Lord (21) Tupou Vaa'i (22) Leicester Fainga'anuku (22) Folau Fakatava (22) Hoskins Sotutu (23) Quinn Tupaea (23) Caleb Clarke (23) Dalton Papalii (24) Samisoni Taukei'aho (24) Will Jordan (24) Stephen Perofeta (25) Jordie Barrett (25) Sevu Reece (25)
