More ‘acid’ to come Scott Barrett’s way amid All Blacks’ injury squeeze

All Blacks captain Scott Barrett has come under intense scrutiny at various points during the international season to date, and that attention hasn’t exactly lifted heading into the final campaign of the year.

The lock has seen his two most-experienced running mates struck down by injuries, leaving him with a trio of youngsters by his side, none of whom boast as many as 10 Test caps.

Tupou Vaa’i went down at training prior to the final game of the Rugby Championship, and it has since been revealed that he tore his meniscus and will miss the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, Patrick Tuipulotu has also been ruled out for what’s left of 2025 and potentially the start of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season after going under the knife for a shoulder complaint.

“That’s two of our top four locks; arguably two of our top three locks,” Ex-All Black Stephen Donald said on The Aftermatch with Kirst & Beav when reacting to New Zealand’s injury list. “Both are having wonderful years. Obviously, Tupou Vaa’i is as good as anyone in the world now, and Patty’s just having a wonderful part of his career at the moment. So, two massive losses.

“I think we’re very fortunate that we’ve got Fabian Holland, the emergence of big Fabian this year. However, it puts a lot of acid on captain Scott Barrett, and Fabian.

“Their biggest responsibility is to stay on the field. Both have had a couple of niggles this year, and if we can keep them both on the field, then we’re going to be fine.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity now, too, for Josh Lord, if he can stay injury-free. And (Sam) Darry, who’s also coming back from injuries.”

Both Lord and Darry have spent time in All Blacks camp this year, but Lord has seen just 12 minutes of game time for the team, and Darry hasn’t seen any. Both men stand north of two metres tall, and both have had their own injury troubles over the past 12 months.

While Barrett, Holland, Lord, and Darry are the four specialist locks in the All Blacks squad, Samipeni Finau is officially listed as a lock/loose forward and has been deployed in the second row earlier in the Test season.

Donald said there’s potential for Finau to secure a bench role on the coming tour, with his versatility becoming especially useful after the double injury blow.

“As we’ve got a group of locks who, unfortunately, have been hit by the injury curse, whether Samipeni Finau, in a matchday 23, becomes a legitimate lock/six replacement option, and what that could do for the makeup of a matchday 23. Darry and Lord are just joining the squad again, although they have played a few internationals themselves in their young careers.”

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The newcomers have just 14 Test caps between them, and while Holland is enjoying a stellar rookie season, he has just nine caps to his name. Barrett’s Test cap tally of 86 puts his young teammates’ experience into jarring perspective.

Should the All Blacks lose another lock and need to dig deeper into the reserves, as they did when their top three halfbacks went down during the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks XV squad will be in Europe and on hand to offer further reinforcements.

Of the locking trio selected in that squad, Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Josh Beehre, and Isaia Walker-Leawere, Donald saw the former as the most likely option to join the top team. Ah Kuoi was training with the All Blacks for much of the July series against France, so he has been signalled as the next man up in the national pecking order.

“From a locking point of view, of course he would be,” Donald said. “He has been in there. When they named the squad, he would have worked out that he’s clearly as high as seven, maybe as low as eight, that’s where he’s sitting.”