Autumn Tour – New Zealand: absent S. Barrett and Tuipulotu, Cane return, Savea still captain

After winning the 2021 Rugby Championship in Australia, with a record five wins to one defeat, this Saturday against South Africa, the All Blacks are already looking to the future. Since they cannot return home due to the measures taken to combat the coronavirus epidemic (which has left 27 dead in the country), they will already be preparing for the autumn tour of the northern hemisphere. New Zealanders will first enjoy a week off in Australia, then be entitled to a week of training, before traveling to the US on October 17, where they will face the Americans on October 23. Washington. Next, the Lions will face Wales on the 30th, Italy on November 6, Ireland on the 13th, and France on the 20th.

The young man called for the first time

In this round, coach Ian Foster had to make many changes within his team compared to who participated in the rugby tournament. He will first have to lay off second-line services Scott Barrett (27) and Patrick Tuipuluto (28) for family reasons. And it was young Josh Lord (20) who was first called up. “ From a physical point of view, Foster admitted, we finished off the rugby tournament well. Therefore, we have decided to call up fewer players than expected for the next part of the Twelve Weeks Tour. The fact that the New Zealand Provincial Championship continues in November means that reinforcements can be called in if needed. Sam Kani, Samuel Whitelock, Dane Coles, Shannon Friesel are back in the pick, but Kane, injured in a pectoralis muscle since March, will not reclaim the captaincy this fall tour, as it was decided that Ardi Savia would remain the captain. .