The All Blacks have decided to leave veteran Patrick Tuipulotu at home for their Test against Fiji in San Diego this weekend.
Tuipulotu was injured late in the Super Rugby Pacific season and it seemed like the knee issue would signal a long time on the sidelines, but he remarkably recovered in time for the final where he led the Blues to their first title in 21 years.
Straight after that, he played two Tests against England so the All Blacks staff felt it was best to manage his game time and Tuipulotu’s team-mate Sam Darry travels with the squad instead.
Sensible call
Assistant coach Leon MacDonald explained that it made sense to leave the experienced campaigner behind ahead of the Rugby Championship.
“We’ve got a full squad bar Patrick Tuipulotu,” said MacDonald.
“Patty’s was a decision around his fitness in terms of his body, his return into the [Super Rugby Pacific] final with a knee [injury], he rolled his ankle during that game and then two massive efforts against a really physical England pack. We just feel we need to look after him a little bit.”
It is a clever move from the management as the All Blacks second-row stocks are certainly a pressure point in the squad and exposing the talented Darry to Test rugby will only benefit the team as a whole.
Door open at 13?
Another beneficiary of the Fiji game could be uncapped centre Billy Proctor who had a strong season for the Hurricanes. It will be especially interesting to see how he gets on with former All Black Justin Marshall openly questioning Rieko Ioane’s hold on the 13 jersey,
“Billy is fantastic. I experienced Billy for the first time with the New Zealand XV as a coach and really enjoyed the way he plays, but also he’s a good student of the game. He’s got a skillset and work rate that’s as good as any midfielder,” MacDonald said.
“He’s pushing really hard and waiting for his opportunity to play and he’s definitely a player that I think would handle test rugby really well.”
Proctor underlines his status as a “student” of the game in how he describes his time in the squad thus far.
“Soaking it all up and getting around all the info I need to around our maps and structures. Hopefully when the opportunity comes I’ll be ready, I am excited for when that opportunity hopefully does come and excited to get to work and putting my best foot forward,” he said.
“It’s quite intense and the boys have to be on a lot of the time… the boys get the reps at training and being at the game watching the boys being able to perform at the weekend is awesome.”
READ MORE: Razor Watch: Unpacking the All Blacks’ pressing issues and our verdict on Scott Robertson