Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa all play their third test in three weeks in advance of The Rugby Championship in August.
All Blacks Head Coach Scott Robertson and his co-selectors, Assistant Coaches Scott Hansen, Jason Holland, Leon MacDonald and Jason Ryan have named their All Blacks team to play Fiji in the final match of the 2024 Steinlager Ultra Low Carb Series at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, USA.
Billy Proctor will make his All Blacks Test debut against Fiji after being named to start at centre for the final match of the of the 2024 Steinlager Ultra Low Carb series at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
Proctor, who will follow his older brother Matt into the All Blacks history books, and is one of six uncapped players named in the match day 23 including hooker George Bell, prop Pasilio Tosi, lock Sam Darry, loose forward Wallace Sititi and halfback Noah Hotham who are all named in the reserves.
Darry and Hotham, who were not named in the initial 32-man squad for the Steinlager Ultra Low Carb Series, come into the side for Patrick Tuipulotu and TJ Perenara respectively. Tuipulotu has remained in New Zealand to freshen up following two tough Tests against England, while Perenara is recovering from a leg injury suffered during the first Test in Dunedin.
All Blacks Head Coach Scott Robertson congratulated the six uncapped players on their selection.
“They’ve earned their opportunity; they’ve prepared well and they are ready for Test match rugby. We have a lot of respect for Fiji who will be fast and physical and we’re looking forward to the contest.
"It’s been a superb week in in San Diego. Our leaders have fed off the younger players energy and our focus is now on performing.”
All Blacks Captain Scott Barrett will lead a team that contains 11 changes in total to the team that started against England at Eden Park last week, but there is continuity and experience through the squad.
Vice-Captain Ardie Savea remains at No.8, first five-eighth Damian McKenzie is set to bring up his 50th Test Cap, while second-five Anton Lienert-Brown and fullback Beauden Barrett bring vast experience to the backline.
Caleb Clarke comes into the starting side in the No.11 jersey for the first time in 2024, while reserve wing Emoni Narawa is back on the All Blacks team sheet for the first time since his Test debut against Argentina in 2023. The 25-year-old was then ruled out of the All Blacks Rugby World Cup campaign after suffering a slipped disc in his back.
Openside Ethan Blackadder and blindside Luke Jacobson join Savea in a new loose forward combination, while the youngest member of the squad, 21-year-old Wallace Sititi is named for the first time in the reserves. It will be Blackadder’s first Test start since 2021 when he wore the No.6 jersey against Ireland in Dublin. Similarly hooker Asafo Aumua starts a Test for the first time since 2021, which was also in America, a 104-14 win over the United States in Washington DC.
All Blacks team to play Fiji:
1. Tamaiti Williams (7), 2. Asafo Aumua (8), 3. Fletcher Newell (15), 4. Scott Barrett (71) (Captain), 5. Tupou Vaa’i (27), 6. Luke Jacobson (20), 7. Ethan Blackadder (10), 8. Ardie Savea (83) (Vice Captain), 9. Cortez Ratima (1), 10. Damian McKenzie (49), 11. Caleb Clarke (20), 12. Anton Lienert-Brown (72), 13. Billy Proctor (0)*
14. Sevu Reece (25), 15. Beauden Barrett (125)
Replacements: 16. George Bell (0)*, 17. Ethan De Groot (24) , 18. Pasilio Tosi (0)*, 19. Sam Darry (0)*, 20. Wallace Sititi (0)* , 21. Noah Hotham (0)*, 22. Jordie Barrett (59) (Vice Captain), 23. Emoni Narawa (1)
(Test caps in brackets, * indicates uncapped)
Joe Schmidt has unveiled a new look Wallabies squad to take on Georgia for Saturday's Test at Allianz Stadium.
Schmidt has named his third different captain in three weeks with Allan Alaalatoa set to lead the side.
He starts in the front-row for the first time since last year’s Bledisloe Test alongside Isaac Kailea and Billy Pollard.
It’s one of ten changes to the starting side as Schmidt rotates his squad after a clean sweep over Wales.
Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Hunter Paisami, Filipo Daugunu and Tom Wright are the remaining faces in the starting 15 from last week’s win against Wales.
This allows a debut for Rebels winger Darby Lancaster, continuing his breakout year after moving from the Sevens program.
Lancaster is one of four on starting debut alongside Kailea, Pollard and Angus Blyth.
Nick Frost, Harry Wilson and Len Ikitau will play their first Tests of the year, with Frost partnering Blyth whilst Wilson joins McReight and Valetini in the back row.
Ikitau has recovered from a hamstring injury and partners Paisami in the centres.
Meanwhile, Ben Donaldson has been elevated to the starting side, linking with Tate McDermott in the halves.
Alex Hodgman is in line for his debut off the bench, set to become the fourth player to play for both New Zealand and Australia.
Hodgman’s Reds teammates Josh Nasser and Zane Nonggorr are the front-row replacements, with Tom Hooper set for his first game of the season.
"Georgia have proven to be a very tough team to play as demonstrated by their wins against Italy and Wales in recent years, as well as their victory last week in Japan," Schmidt said.
“They have added some very exciting backs to their traditional forward strength and challenge opponents across the park.”
Wallabies team to play Georgia:
1. Isaac Kailea (2 Tests), 2. Billy Pollard (2 Tests), 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c) (69 Tests), 4. Nick Frost (15 Tests), 5. Angus Blyth (2 Tests), 6. Rob Valetini (41 Tests), 7. Fraser McReight (19 Tests), 8. Harry Wilson (12 Tests), 9. Tate McDermott (30 Tests), 10. Ben Donaldson (8 Tests), 11. Darby Lancaster*, 12. Hunter Paisami (26 Tests), 13. Len Ikitau (28 Tests), 14. Filipo Daugunu (9 Tests), 15. Tom Wright (27 Tests)
Replacements: 16. Josh Nasser (1 Test), 17. Alex Hodgman**, 18. Zane Nonggorr (5 Tests), 19. Tom Hooper (8 Tests), 20. Jeremy Williams (2 Tests), 21. Nic White (67 Tests), 22. Noah Lolesio (19 Tests), 23. Andrew Kellaway (28 Tests)
Salmaan Moerat will take over the Springbok captaincy for the first time when he leads a squad featuring seven uncapped players in a first Test with emerging nation Portugal in the final match of the Castle Lager Incoming Series in Bloemfontein.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus included all seven of the uncapped players in his training squad for the historic Test, which will also be the first time the Boks have been refereed by a woman, with Scotland’s Hollie Davidson taking the whistle.
The uncapped players in the starting lineup are former Junior Springbok captain Phepsi Buthelezi (flanker), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker) and Jan-Hendrik Wessels (prop), while Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker), Ruan Venter (loose forward), Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) and Quan Horn (fullback) could be in line to make their Test debuts from the replacements’ bench.
The 26-year-old Moerat becomes the 66th Springbok captain – and the third in four tests this year – as he makes the step up having previously led SA Schools, the Junior Springboks and the DHL Stormers.
Only four players in the team were retained from Saturday’s match-23 against Ireland: Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing), RG Snyman, Moerat (both locks), and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back).
Portugal have been steadily climbing the world rankings, rising from 27th at the start of 2019 to their present ranking of 15th, and made a notable impression at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
“Portugal are a quality team as we saw with their victory against Fiji in the RWC, while they also drew their clash against Georgia 18-18,” said Erasmus.
“It was important for us to select a quality team with a bunch of experienced players, while at the same time delivering on our objective of growing our squad depth by naming a few debutants.”
Erasmus said he was pleased to be able to hand the captaincy to Moerat, whose track record as a captain was a testament of his abilities as a fine leader: “Salmaan commands respect from his teammates, so we’d like to congratulate him on this achievement, and we have no doubt that he’ll take on this responsibility as well as he has for the other teams he has led.
“He has come through the SA Rugby ranks and he went on to captain the Junior Springboks and SA Schools teams, as well as the DHL Stormers and Western Province, which speaks volumes about his quality as a player and a captain.”
The match marks the first appearance of the Test season for Rugby World Cup winners Lukhanyo Am (centre), Manie Libbok (flyhalf), Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf), Trevor Nyakane and Thomas du Toit (props).
Eight players were members of the match-23 that defeated Wales 41-13 in London in the team’s opening match of the season in June: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Aphelele Fassi (fullback), Makazole Mapimpi (wing), Andre Esterhuizen (centre), Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon (both loose forwards), Moerat, and Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop).
Springbok team to play Portugal:
15. Aphelele Fassi (4), 14. Kurt-Lee Arendse (17), 13. Lukhanyo Am (35), 12. Andre Esterhuizen (17), 11. Makazole Mapimpi (42), 10. Manie Libbok (14), 9. Cobus Reinach (32), 8. Evan Roos (6), 7. Ben-Jason Dixon (1), 6. Phepsi Buthelezi (0)*, 5. RG Snyman (36), 4. Salmaan Moerat (captain, 6), 3. Thomas du Toit (18), 2. Johan Grobbelaar (0)*, 1. Jan-Hendrik Wessels (0)*
Replacements: 16. Andre-Hugo Venter (0)*, 17. Ntuthuko Mchunu (2), 18. Trevor Nyakane (67), 19. Ruan Venter (0)*, 20. Elrigh Louw (3), 21. Morne van den Berg (0)*, 22. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), 23. Quan Horn (0)*
Following two matches and a drawn series against France in Mendoza and Buenos Aires Los Pumas will play their third and final match of the July International Window against Uruguay. The match will be played at the Domingo Burgueño Miguel Stadium (Maldonado Campus) in Uruguay.
Matches between Los Pumas and Los Teros began in 1951 with the creation of the South American Championship and their last test match took place in 2006. The match was a qualifier for the 2007 World Cup and Los Pumas beat Los Teros 26-0 at the CASI.
For this third Test Felipe Contepomi has made 8 changes with respect to the team that beat France in Vélez, Buenos Aires: Thomas Gallo for Mayco Vivas, Ignacio Ruiz for Julián Montoya, Pedro Rubiolo for Lucas Paulos, Joaquín Moro (debutant) for Pablo Matera, Gonzalo Bertranou for Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Tomás Albornoz for Santiago Carreras, Jerónimo de la Fuente for Matías Moroni and Ignacio Mendy for Bautista Delguy.
New additions to the lineup: Marcos Kremer will be the team captain; Joaquín Moro, a player from Bahía Blanca from the Pampas franchise, will make his debut on Saturday and will become Puma #892; Francisco Coria Marchetti, if he enters, will also play his first cap with the national team; Jerónimo de la Fuente will reach 80 caps; Gonzalo Bertranou will reach 60 and Ignacio Mendy returns to the team after his debut in 2021 against South Africa.
Los Pumas team to play Uruguay:
1. GALLO, Thomas (2), 2. RUIZ , Ignacio (9), 3. BELLO , Eduardo (23), 4. MOLINA , Franco (2), 5. RUBIOLO , Pedro (11), 6. MORO , Joaquin (0)*, 7. KREMER , Marcos (66) – Captain, 8. OVIEDO , Joaquin (4), 9. BERTRANOU , Gonzalo (59), 10. ALBORNOZ , Thomas (7), 11. RACES, Matthew (19), 12. DE LA FUENTE , Jeronimo (79) , 13. CHOCOBARES , Santiago (20), 14. MENDY , Ignacio (1), 15. LAMB , Santiago (51)
Replacements: 16. STREETS , Ignacio (2), 17. VIVAS , Mayco (23), 18. CORIA MARCHETTI , Francisco (0)*, 19. GERMAN , Matías (96), 20. MATERA , Pablo (100), 21. GARCÍA , Gonzalo (3), 22. RACES , Santiago (44), 23. ORLANDO , Matías (60)
