'We've got a big six foot eight lock coming in, and a six foot nine lock on the bench'

The All Blacks have named an inexperienced locking group to take on Argentina but head coach Scott Robertson is excited by the “fresh blood” coming through the position.

Sam Darry will start for the All Blacks for the first time after debuting in San Diego against Fiji while Tupou Vaa’i packs down next to him. Off the bench will be four Test lock Josh Lord.

Robertson explained that Blues lock Patrick Tuipulotu succumbed to a calf injury while captain Scott Barrett was earlier ruled out for both Argentina Tests.

“Obviously with Patrick [Tuipulotu], he had a calf injury, so Sam Darry comes in and Josh Lord has come back from a couple of games,” Robertson explained. 

“So perfect timing for us. There’s some fresh blood coming through with the second rows, the locks. Sam’s been impressive since he’s come in.

“And Josh has, you know, wore the black jersey before, and he’ll get straight up to the mark and standard.”

Some might be concerned with the All Blacks locking stocks in the post-Whitelock and Retallick but Robertson was adamant that they have the talent to fill the void.

On state of the locks position he highlighted the tremendous athletes that the All Blacks have coming in.

“It’s exciting. I think is exciting. We’ve got a big six foot eight lock coming in, and a six foot nine lock on the bench, and they’re good athletes,” Robertson said.

“When someone retires, someone gets an opportunity, and it’s their opportunity, so we set them up the best we can to perform, and they’ve done themselves as well.

“They’ve owned the role and the opportunity this week, and on Saturday night with a performance, they can, you know, keep that jersey.”