Injury crisis hands Kirifi his All Blacks chance ahead of second Bledisloe Test

Du’Plessis Kirifi will travel to Sydney for the second Bledisloe Cup Test after a wave of injuries forced the All Blacks to call up four new players following their 31-point victory over the Wallabies in Auckland. The Hurricanes co-captain, widely considered unlucky to miss the initial 34-man squad, now gets his chance alongside returning lock Jamie Hannah and recalled centre Anton Lienert-Brown.

The injury toll from the first Test was significant. Anton Segner and Asafo Aumua clashed heads during the second half, with both failing their Head Injury Assessments. Ethan Blackadder did not make it past the warm-up, pulling up with a calf injury, while Leroy Carter sustained a worrying ankle problem that ended his involvement entirely.

All Blacks attack coach Mike Blair framed the disruption as a chance to broaden the squad’s depth with the Rugby World Cup on the horizon. “It’s great that we get this opportunity to look at him. He’s not been in with the group yet,” Blair told reporters at Auckland Airport on Sunday. “But for us to get to know him a little bit more — his personality, his leadership, the impact he can have on the group is exciting for him and exciting for us as well.”

“The provincial matches that we played allowed us to look at players and see them within our systems. We know how physical the game is these days… It’s unfortunate that [the injuries have] happened, but it’s a brilliant opportunity to build depth before the World Cup.”

Kirifi’s omission from the original squad had drawn considerable attention, with many observers believing the openside flanker had been overlooked. Head coach Dave Rennie addressed the decision directly on Saturday, pointing to discipline as the key differentiator between Kirifi and Segner. “Look, he’s an excellent player. But if he was the best seven in the country in our opinion, we would have picked him,” Rennie told Newstalk ZB.

“Post tackle is his point of difference, and the feedback we’ve given Dupes is around technique and trying to be a lot more flawless there. He gets penalised as many times as he does rewarded, versus someone like Anton Segner, who got 22 turnovers and got penalised twice during Super Rugby — and at the higher you go, the tougher the referees are around you being legal.”

Lienert-Brown’s return to the outside backs comes after the late additions of Chay Fihaki and Emoni Narawaa to the squad last week, suggesting Rennie is satisfied with his coverage in that position despite the mounting absentees.