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All Blacks XV set to take on Barbarians as part of four-game end-of-year tour

By Sam Smith
(Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)

New Zealand Rugby have announced that the second-string national side, dubbed the All Blacks XV, will take part in a four-game tour of the Northern Hemisphere throughout October and November.

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The All Blacks XV was first unveiled in 2020 as a long-awaited replacement for the former Junior All Blacks and New Zealand A sides and were set to play three matches during that year’s November window but with Covid curtailing the season and also complicating last year’s proceedings, the team was put back on ice – until now.

Two matches have already been confirmed for later this year, with the All Blacks XV set to take on the Canada national side on October 29 and the Barbarians at Tottenham Stadium in London two weeks later.

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Maori All Blacks post-match press conference

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Maori All Blacks post-match press conference

Two additional fixtures – against a national team from a developing rugby nation and a second XV team from a tier-one nation – are set to be added to the schedule and announced in the coming weeks.

No coach has been announced for the team.

NZR general manager of professional rugby and performance Chris Lendrum said the All Blacks XV was a positive development for players and fans in New Zealand and around the world.

“The schedule announced today is an exciting addition to the international calendar and we can’t wait to see the team representing New Zealand in what promises to be a series of entertaining, competitive, and high-quality matches.

“As the next senior national representative side behind the All Blacks, the All Blacks XV will have the same high expectations as our other ‘Teams in Black’. Canada, the Barbarians and the exciting prospect of two additional opponents to come will provide a tough first tour for this team.”

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NZR head of high performance Mike Anthony said the team would provide additional opportunity for professional players in New Zealand to display their skills on a global stage.

“This will be a high-performance team which will be representing New Zealand overseas and is a hugely exciting opportunity for our players and coaches. We believe the environment and schedule will help develop our next tier of talent. Importantly it will expose players to different playing styles, structures and systems, which can only benefit the development of our players and coaches.

“For our future professional players, it will provide an aspirational goal, and for current players, it is a chance to prove themselves on the international stage and push their case for All Blacks selection, or in some cases for a recall.”

– with New Zealand Rugby

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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