A two-from-two Northern Tour from the All Blacks XV has displayed the depth of New Zealand’s talent stocks once more, with no shortage of emerging stars making their case for higher honours.
With the changing of the guard in the All Blacks coaching box came a changing of selections in the development squad, with just five forwards and one back – Quinn Tupaea – from the 2023 squad earning selection in 2024. Clayton McMillan also succeeded Leon MacDonald as head coach.
With injuries and the birth of babies keeping various players from both the All Blacks and All Blacks XV in New Zealand or requiring them to leave Europe early, the initial 29-man development squad was quickly broken up and there were players coming in and out every week.
Hoskins Sotutu got injured before the team left, Peter Lakai and Josh Lord were called into the All Blacks, and Christian Lio-Willie followed soon after.
Brodie McAlister, Harry Plummer and then AJ Lam were called up after the first game against Munster and Du’Plessis Kirifi, Fabian Holland and Chay Fihaki have all joined the All Blacks in Paris following the Georgia win.
It’s an exhaustive list from an exhaustive schedule, and clearly, there are plenty of players benefitting from it with opportunities to don a black jersey.
Here are the winners and losers of the 2024 All Blacks XV squad.
Winners
The Captain
Du’Plessis Kirifi has been on the outskirts of the All Blacks conversation for some years now, but even after being pushed to the bench for the Hurricanes this season due to the emergence of Peter Lakai, the 27-year-old was named captain for the 2024 All Blacks XV tour.
That faith was well rewarded, as Kirifi chewed through just shy of 30 tackles in his two games, was a constant threat around the breakdown and didn’t get called for a single penalty. That latter point is a significant one, as size and ill-discipline have been considered Kirifi’s Achilles heel throughout his career. A handful of dominant tackles across the two contests will help ease concerns over his size, too.
Kirifi offers a real point of difference to other leaders currently in the New Zealand rugby landscape, wearing his heart on his sleeve and playing with emotion. He’s a bulldog of a player, and in the post-Dane Coles and Brodie Retallick era, that’s something that could appeal to All Blacks selectors. If not, his consistent world-class performances should do the trick.
The Second Row
All three locks for the All Blacks XV were outstanding across both games of this tour, claiming all but one of their 28 lineouts while holding their opponents Munster and Georgia to 88 per cent and 65 per cent lineout success respectively.
Fabian Holland has been rewarded with an All Blacks call-up just three months after becoming eligible for the black jersey and won Man of the Match in his start against Munster. The 22-year-old proved once more to be a workhorse with double-digit carries and tackles in that game while providing both mobility and physicality around the park.
Isaia Walker-Leawere was a physical beast around the breakdown and while he was handed a yellow card for collapsing a rolling maul against Munster, he made a game-high four dominant tackles in that game and was then squeaky clean against Georgia.
Naitoa Ah Kuoi started the second game and made a team-high 16 tackles while contributing nine carries and 11 lineout wins.
The Backline Bruiser
14-time All Black midfielder Quinn Tupaea was superb against both Munster, where he started at inside centre, and Georgia, where he started on the right wing.
Tupaea was physical and direct with ball in hand, accelerating hard into contact with no hesitation about getting his hands dirty. He led his side with 13 carries in Limerick.
On defence, the 25-year-old put up loose forward-esque numbers with a dozen tackles against Munster and nine tackles made against Georgia while looking like a rock over the ball in the breakdown.
His strength and energy were influential in both games and while it was AJ Lam who was called into the All Blacks as midfield cover for Billy Proctor – after Harry Plummer went down – Tupaea certainly looks ready for the bright lights of the international arena again.
Losers
The Front Row
The All Blacks XV scrum did well against Munster, not so much against Georgia. Perhaps that should be expected, the Georgians are notoriously strong scrummagers, but this wasn’t some young up-and-coming starting front row from the Kiwis.
It was George Bower, Kurt Eklund and Marcel Renata who started against Georgia, none of whom are under the age of 30. Again, credit to Georgia for demanding the most experienced selections New Zealand could offer, but this is a development team at the start of a World Cup cycle.
The reserve unit of Bradley Slater, 26, Xavier Numia, 25, and Saula Ma’u, 24, is more in the age profile you’d expect to see from the All Blacks XV, but for Slater and Ma’u to only see 19 minutes of action against the kind of international scrummaging they will hope to one day face on a weekly basis is a missed opportunity.
24-year-old George Dyer did start in game one against Munster, pushing Ma’u out of the matchday 23 while again Numia and Slater saw bench minutes.
Honourable mentions
Loose forwards Corey Kellow and Devan Flanders were immense, while in the outside backs, Kini Naholo and Shaun Stevenson made magic happen with nearly every touch. Riley Higgins took the step up against Georgia in his stride and Noah Hotham showed why he’s already been capped by the All Blacks at just 21 years of age.
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