{"id":15739,"date":"2025-11-20T05:56:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=15739"},"modified":"2025-11-20T05:56:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:56:57","slug":"all-blacks-v-wales-main-selection-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=15739","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks v Wales: Main selection talking points"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wales v All Blacks<\/b><\/p>\n

Kick-off: 4:10am Sunday 23 November<\/p>\n

Principality Stadium, Cardiff<\/p>\n

Live blog updates on RNZ<\/i><\/p>\n

While it feels as though the All Blacks’ season\u00a0came to a shuddering halt last weekend at Twickenham<\/a>, there is still one test to play. Scott Robertson’s side\u00a0now finds itself in Cardiff<\/a>\u00a0in what was going to be the victory lap of a Grand Slam, except England had other ideas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robertson has already signalled the team will change for this last test, however, it’s bad news for one player who was definitely getting a run at Principality Stadium. Tevita Mafileo is out injured, so we know that much, but what else is going to be revealed once Robertson names his side at 9pm tonight?<\/p>\n

All you need is Love?<\/h3>\n
\"Du\u2019Plessis<\/p>\n

Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi celebrates with Ruben Love.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Brett Phibbs \/ www.photosport.nz<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This is a given, since Robertson explicitly stated Ruben Love was playing when interviewed on Monday. So he will start at fullback, which means the Will Jordan may shift to the wing or even back to the bench.<\/p>\n

Caleb Clarke is back from his concussion so should start on the wing – unless Robertson really wants Leicester Fainga’anuku out there again. Sevu Reece is back in contention after a game for the All Blacks XV as well.<\/p>\n

Front row rotation, surely<\/h3>\n
\"Tamaiti<\/p>\n

Tamaiti Williams.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Jeremy Ward \/ www.photosport.nz<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ethan de Groot and Fletcher Newell have had heavy workloads this season and are due a rest, so expect the monster propping duo of Tamaiti Williams and Pasilio Tosi to start. George Bower hasn’t been used all tour so should come onto the bench, while Mafileo’s misfortune means Newell will need to back up as well.<\/p>\n

The scrum has a bit of a point to prove after a rather low output since the win over Ireland, so whatever the combo is will be hungry for penalties and field position.<\/p>\n

A Bell will ring<\/h3>\n
\"George<\/p>\n

George Bell of Canterbury against the Southland Stags in the Ranfurly Shield\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Robyn Edie \/ www.photosport.nz<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Samisoni Taukei’aho will start at hooker and Bell will come off the bench, after his highly unusual dropping then recall to the most unused role in the All Blacks as the third hooker. However, Bell richly deserves some gametime after great form in the NPC, ironically his call up meant he missed the glory of being in the victorious Canterbury side that took out the final.<\/p>\n

Another new midfield?<\/h3>\n
\"Rieko<\/p>\n

Rieko Ioane scores against France.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Masanori Udagawa\/Photosport<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Quinn Tupaea and Billy Proctor’s combination against England was somewhat exploited in the big loss, especially for Fraser Dingwall’s try that gave the home side the lead. Does Robertson move Fainga’anuku back to centre or go with some tested defensive options in Rieko Ioane or Anton Lienert-Brown.<\/p>\n

Ioane hasn’t been used at all on the tour and must be feeling pretty determined to prove a point, in what might be his last game before a stint playing for Leinster.<\/p>\n

Does Ardie finally get a rest?<\/h3>\n
\"Ardie<\/p>\n

Ardie Savea.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Kerry Marshall \/ www.photosport.nz<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Unlikely, because the All Blacks are down to the last reserves of loose forwards and leadership. Savea has been an absolute workhorse from start to finish in 2025, so it’s fitting that he should finish the season at the forefront of an All Black win. It’s just a case of what combination of Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi, Simon Parker and Du’Plessis Kirifi joins him.<\/p>\n

Does it mean he’ll be captain, though? The second row is banged up too, but there is room for Scott Barrett to take the weekend off due to the good form of Josh Lord and Fabian Holland, plus Sam Darry being available after a very good NPC season of his own.<\/p>\n

rnz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wales v All Blacks Kick-off: 4:10am Sunday 23 November Principality Stadium, Cardiff Live blog updates on RNZ While it feels as though the All Blacks’ season\u00a0came to a shuddering halt last weekend at Twickenham, there is still one test to play. Scott Robertson’s side\u00a0now finds itself in Cardiff\u00a0in what was going to be the victory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15741,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15739\/revisions\/15741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}