{"id":18173,"date":"2026-08-10T05:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18173"},"modified":"2026-08-10T05:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:37:28","slug":"two-debutants-named-in-all-blacks-team-to-play-sharks-luke-jacobson-to-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18173","title":{"rendered":"Two debutants named in All Blacks team to play Sharks, Luke Jacobson to captain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two debutants have been named in All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie’s team to play the Sharks in Durban on Wednesday, which will see Luke Jacobson captain the All Blacks for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hooker Bradley Slater is set to make his All Blacks debut just days after being called in as an injury replacement for George Bell. He’s been named on the bench alongside loose forward Semisi Ta’eiloa, who will pull on the All Blacks jersey for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Luke Jacobson was the “obvious choice” to captain the team in their second match of the South Africa tour, Rennie said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“He is highly respected, has a great feel for the game and will lead through his actions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“On behalf of the whole squad, I want to congratulate Semisi and Bradley on achieving this very special milestone, and I know their family and friends will be incredibly proud,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ruben Love is back at first-five, having sat out the first match against the Stormers, when Beauden Barrett played in the No 10 jersey. Fehi Fineanganofo, who was not considered for the Stormers game due to illness, has been named on the wing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Seven players from the All Blacks team that\u00a0beat the Stormers 38-21 on Friday<\/a>\u00a0have again been named in the 23.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hooker Asafo Aumua, lock Sam Darry, halfback Kyle Preston, and wing Caleb Clarke, who all came off the bench against the Stormers, will start against the Sharks. Prop Pasilio Tosi, who started in the Stormers game, will provide impact from the bench, alongside fellow prop Ollie Norris and loose forward Ethan Blackadder, who get their second bench start of the tour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Luke<\/div>
Luke Jacobson in action against France in July.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Photosport Ltd 2026 www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Timoci Tavatavanawai and Emoni Narawa are playing for the All Blacks for the first time this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“The opening match gave the players a real introduction to the way that South African teams play and the Sharks will be no different. With a short turnaround between games, today has been a big day of preparation. There is a lot of excitement in the group, with the majority of the squad about to play their first game of the tour,” Rennie said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kick-off at Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium on Wednesday 12 August is 5am NZ time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps and non-Test games in brackets. * indicates first All Blacks appearance)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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1. Ethan de Groot (43, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Asafo Aumua (22, 3)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Fletcher Newell (37, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. Josh Lord (15, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Sam Darry (10, 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6. Tupou Vaa’i (47, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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7. Wallace Sititi (21, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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8. Luke Jacobson (27, 0) (Captain)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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9. Kyle Preston (1, 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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10. Ruben Love (8, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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11. Caleb Clarke (36, 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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12. Jordie Barrett (81, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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13. Quinn Tupaea (26, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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14. Fehi Fineanganofo (1, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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15. Damian McKenzie (77, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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16. Bradley Slater *<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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17. Ollie Norris (3, 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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18. Pasilio Tosi (17, 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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19. Ethan Blackadder (14, 1)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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20. Semisi Ta’eiloa *<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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21. Cam Roigard (20, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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22. Timoci Tavatavanawai (2, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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23. Emoni Narawa (4, 0)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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

Two debutants have been named in All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie’s team to play the Sharks in Durban on Wednesday, which will see Luke Jacobson captain the All Blacks for the first time. Hooker Bradley Slater is set to make his All Blacks debut just days after being called in as an injury replacement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18173","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=18173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18175,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18173\/revisions\/18175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}