Neil Barnes: 'We can make a few changes and still put a damn good side out there'

All Blacks 2IC Neil Barnes believes his side will still put a strong Test side out against Wales in the Nations Championship, despite being without several first-choice starters.

Will Jordan and Jordie Barrett are the latest to miss time on the sidelines, although it’s positive news for Barrett as the All Blacks prepare to take on Wales in Cardiff this weekend.

Jordan limped off with a hamstring injury, while Barrett has passed all of his HIA protocols ahead of the Wales encounter, but isn’t expected to be named in the 23-man squad.

The All Blacks’ all-time leading try scorer has a minor tear in his hamstring and will miss the Wales Test and likely England at Twickenham, but the All Blacks hope to have him on the field in the finals weekend.

“Yeah, look, we are hopeful. At this stage, we don’t know,” Barnes explained in Bath. 

“It’s not conclusive where he’s at. It’s a minor tear, but it depends on how quickly it starts to heal this week. So we’ll see how that progresses as the week comes along.”

The All Blacks’ injury list has reached yet another high, with over ten players out through injury who haven’t featured on the Northern Tour part of the Nations Championship.

But despite that growing injury toll, Barnes is adamant the chosen players will raise their game to the required standard.

“Look, at the end of the day, there’s a lot of positions in this team where it’s really close, and you know we can make quite a few changes and still put a damn good side out there,” Barnes said at the University of Bath, where the All Blacks are training before travelling to Cardiff.

“There’s a lot of trust in the people we selected in this group, so yeah, a couple of people will get opportunities, and they’ve deserved them.

“If they perform, it raises the bar in that position. And then the other person to get back in’s got to raise his game. It’s just a flow-on effect, really. So yeah, there are areas there where we’ll make a couple of changes.

“Look, at the end of the day, we’re all about constant improvement every week. So we had a good look at our game last week, and have identified the areas we want to get a little bit better all the time. Comfortable with the result we got.”

All Blacks winger Josh Moorby, who scored a lead-extending try in the left-hand corner against Scotland at Murrayfield, said he was impressed by Wales’ win over Japan.

“Yeah, like we massively respect them. They’re a high–quality squad that had a good bonus–point win over the weekend.

“We’re looking at a lot of things that we can do better from the weekend just gone. So yeah, we’ll be attacking this week with a lot of intent.

The Hurricanes winger admitted Steve Tandy’s side provides threats all around the park, which will challenge the All Blacks defence.

“Oh, a mix of all sorts, really. They’re big in midfield, fast outside backs, good forward pack. So they’ll be bringing a pretty physical game, and we’ll be getting ready this week for that.”