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Overlooked Du’Plessis Kirifi earns All Blacks call-up amid injury crisis
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Mike Blair: 'Brilliant opportunity to build depth before the World Cup'
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All Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair has outlined the positives of calling in four new players, despite losing four players to injuries after their 31-point win over the Wallabies in Auckland.
Arguably the most-talked-about player not to wear the All Blacks jersey in 2026, Du’Plessis Kirifi, will travel to Sydney for the second Bledisloe Cup Test, following the injury to Ethan Blackadder and Anton Segner.
Segner and Asafo Aumua clashed heads during the second half, resulting in two failed HIA’s, while Blackadder pulled up with a calf injury in the warm-up. Crusaders and All Blacks lock Jamie Hannah will also return, after featuring on a couple of occasions in South Africa in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
Leroy Carter’s worrying ankle injury sees Anton Lienert-Brown return, suggesting Dave Rennie feels as though he has suitable outside-back cover after drafting in Chay Fihaki and Emoni Narawaa into the All Blacks squad late last week.
Before travelling to Sydney for the second Test, Blair explained to reporters at Auckland Airport that they are excited to get their hands on Kirifi.
“It’s great that we get this opportunity to look at him. He’s not been in with the group yet,” the All Blacks attack coach said on Sunday.
“But for us to get to know him a little bit more – his personality, his leadership, the impact he can have on the group is exciting for him and exciting for us as well.
“The provincial matches that we played allowed us to look at players and see them within our systems. We know how physical the game is these days… It’s unfortunate that [the injuries have] happened, but it’s a brilliant opportunity to build depth before the World Cup.”
Many believed the Hurricanes co-captain was snubbed for the initial 34-man squad for the All Blacks’ three home Nations Championship Tests, where Rennie and co opted for Anton Segner instead.
Before Kirifi’s call-up for the second Bledisloe Cup Test, All Blacks head coach compared Kirifi’s stats to Segner, highlighting a difference in the two players’ discipline.
“Look, he’s [Kirifi] an excellent player. But if he was the best seven in the country in our opinion, we would have picked him,” Rennie told Newstalk ZB on Saturday, October 3.
“And so I think post tackle is his point of difference, and the feedback we’ve given Dupes is around technique and trying to be a lot more flawless there.”
“So he gets penalised as many times as he does rewarded, versus someone like Anton Segner, who got 22 turnovers, and got penalised twice during Super Rugby, and at the higher you go, the tougher the referees are around you being legal.
“So, and look, we’ve got, you know, good players who can cover that position. We’ve used Pete Lakai there. We’ve obviously used Ardie there. So look, it’s competitive, which is really positive from our point of view.”
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