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All Blacks call-up a fourth non-RWC pick ahead of clash with Boks
Rookie second row Josh Lord has been called up by All Blacks Coach Ian Foster to reinforce the team’s waning lock options ahead of their pre-World Cup encounter against the Springboks later this month at Twickenham.
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Lord has proved himself as a versatile lock in recent seasons and at 2.02m has impressed with his lineout work and with ball in hand.
Foster had already added halfback Brad Weber, loose forward Samipeni Finau, and hooker George Bell for the upcoming match against the Springboks, but injury has forced him to dip into fringe stocks once more.
An update from the All Blacks on Friday confirmed that Lord – who plays for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and who was a member of the Rugby Championship squad but narrowly missed World Cup selection – would now be integrated into the camp for the week leading to the Twickenham fixture.
? UPDATE | Josh Lord joins the squad for our Test match against the Springboks at Twickenham. Lord replaces the injured George Bell.#AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/QNGtLlkNgQ
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 11, 2023
Lord’s addition comes in lieu of injured Canterbury hooker Bell.
Although World Cup squads are restricted to 33 players, it’s anticipated that some fringe players will be kept on standby in case of injuries. Lord’s inclusion, albeit replacing a hooker, makes sense in the context of senior lock Brodie Retallick’s knee injury which will likely see him miss New Zealand’s initial World Cup games.
Although disappointed to have missed the World Cup cut, Lord will no doubt be eager to play his part in the fixture against South Africa, a fixture that’s a potential money-spinner for both nations as well as a final preparatory trial before the World Cup in France.
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The 22-year-old has participated in three All Blacks tests, most recently contributing to the 41-12 win over Argentina in July. Despite being excluded from the World Cup squad initially, Lord’s summoning for the Twickenham encounter suggests he’s very much next off the rank in the All Blacks’ engine room.
After first making his provincial debut for Taranaki in 2019, Josh Lord was called into the Chiefs wider training squad in 2020 and then the full squad this year. He made his Sky Super Rugby debut against the Crusaders in 2021 and played five matches.
Lord plays both his provincial and Super Rugby alongside current All Blacks lock Tupou Vaa’i. Hailing from the small township of Owhango in the central North Island, Lord attended Hamilton Boys’ High School and first came onto the national radar with the University of Waikato Under 20 side as well as the New Zealand Under 20 team in 2018.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments