All Blacks 2025

[pakman]

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

@booboo I fed those names into Chat GTP and asked it if they would be available for the start of the Rugby Championship.

^Here’s the updated availability status for the listed New Zealand players ahead of the Rugby Championship (starting early August 2025), with the latest news on Scott Barrett and Beauden Barrett included:

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Unavailable for Start of Championship

• ^Ofa Tu’ungafasi – Undergoing neck surgery and ruled out for the rest of Super Rugby Pacific, making him unlikely to return by early August oai_citation:0‡SuperSport.

• ^Beauden Barrett – Suffered a fractured right hand in early March. Expected 6–8 weeks of recovery, which means he’ll be close to match fitness in May–June; likely fully fit by August oai_citation:1‡RUGBY.com.au oai_citation:2‡SABC Sport oai_citation:3‡RugbyPass.

• ^Sam Darry – Season-ending shoulder injury at the tail end of Super Rugby; no turnaround in time for August.

• ^Wallace Sititi – Long-term knee injury still ruling him out.

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🟡 Mid-Term/Conditional – Likely Fit by August

• ^Tyrell Lomax, Asafo Aumua, Luke Jacobsen, Tamati Williams, Simon Parker, Reiko Ioane, Caleb Clarke, Stephen Perofeta, Peter Lakai, Josh Lord, Ethan Blackadder—all have either minor injuries or concussion issues that should be resolved by early August.

• ^Josh Lord – “Mid-term” knee concern; unclear timeline but expected back pre-championship.

• ^Ethan Blackadder – Quad injury with unspecified timeline, but recovery likely before August.

• ^Scott Barrett – Despite recent breaks (missed two tests vs France due to a broken finger), he's training and expected to be match-ready well before the Rugby Championship oai_citation:4‡Reddit oai_citation:5‡Reddit oai_citation:6‡Reuters.

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Fit or Uninjured

• Scott Barrett, Tamati Williams, Tyrell Lomax, Asafo Aumua, Luke Jacobsen, Peter Lakai, Simon Parker, Reiko Ioane, Caleb Clarke, Stephen Perofeta—all expected to be available once their minor issues settle.

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🟢 Summary Table

Player	Status	Likely Available in August
Ofa Tu’ungafasi	Out rest of Super Rugby (neck surgery)	No
Beauden Barrett	Fractured hand (6–8 weeks)	Yes
Sam Darry	Season-ending shoulder	No
Wallace Sititi	Long-term knee	No
Tyrell Lomax	Ankle injury (short-term)	Yes
Asafo Aumua	Concussion (returned)	Yes
Luke Jacobsen	Minor nose issue	Yes
Scott Barrett	Broken finger, back in training	Yes
Josh Lord	Mid-term knee	Probably
Ethan Blackadder	Quad injury	️ Likely
Peter Lakai	Fit	Yes
Simon Parker	Fit	Yes
Reiko Ioane	Fit	Yes
Caleb Clarke	Minor thigh issue	Yes
Stephen Perofeta	Calf strain (short)	Yes
Tamati Williams	Fit	Yes

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🟢 Final Take

• Definitely unavailable: Tu’ungafasi, Darry, Sititi.
• Uncertain depending on recovery: Blackadder, Lord.
• Likely fit: Beauden Barrett (prior hand issue), Scott Barrett, Lomax, Aumua, Jacobsen, Williams, Parker, Ioane, Clarke, Perofeta, Lakai.

So by early August, most of the squad should be ready—except for the long-term injured trio and two players who are the last to fully recover.

I see AI can’t spell Jacobson!

[pakman]

@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2025:

@sparky Sititi had surgery on his ankle, not a knee injury. When I posted a couple of weeks back that he would be in his moon boot for 3 weeks that was directly from him.

Razor has noted his progress.

[pakman]

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:

@mariner4life much like the post 2am dancefloor hunt it's no secret I prefer big bodies.

Vaai, Finau and Savea is probably the best we can hope for with the current administration.

But I view with great scepticism stats suggesting Ardie does much at ruck time other than try to be the next person to carry.

I saw him do a solid clean out on Saturday, so seems he knows how to do it.

[pakman]

@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:

Overall the French series was a success. New players were tried and we got an idea of what some players have to offer.

Holland was a major win. His combination with Tuipulotu and with Vaa'i there at 6 offered a lot. We saw how dominant the lineout and maul could be in the first half of the second test.

The biggest questions are around who will be the loose forwards and who will be center?

Will Savea be 7 or 8 or will he continue to move around mid game?

Savea, Kirifi, Lio Willie, Lakai and Sititi are all a bit too samey so would hope they make a decision on who to back out of those and pick a bit more variety for the remaining positions.

Would suspect that Savea, Sititi and Finau are the first three named in the squad and that the rest will be selected from there.

Can't see someone like Parker coming in with no test experience and no game time. Suspect he will need to get some games under his belt in the NPC to come under consideration for the EOYT.

Papali'i showed he can offer genuine impact off the bench and he helped us dominate possession for the last 10 minutes. Took a clean lineout on the French 5m line. Made a dominant tackle on Taofifenua. Made strong carries and probably scored a try.

Still Papali'i was only in as injury cover so there is that.

Not sure on the injury status of Jacobson or Blackadder or Lakai but suspect that they will be picking 6 from the following:

Savea, Sititi, Finau, Lakai, Kirifi, Lio-Willie, Papali'i, Jacobson and Blackadder.

As Lakai was noted as ruled out by injury we can expect him to be added.

I I reckon the decision will come down to the lock situation. If another is added (Darry/Lord), then can see Vaa’i as sixth man, with Kirifi dropping out.

No extra locks and choice for last spot between Kirifi/Lio Willie/Paps/Bladder. Parker and Hoss on edge of discussions.

For me, I’d prefer Lakai and Jacobson seen as punchy 7s and RD and Wally seen as running 8s. Which leaves a need for two big 6s.

So I’d go for Parker if Vaa’i required in engine room. Ah Khoi would also fit the spec.

Luke/Parker/Wally was a nicely balanced unit for Minor Champions.

[antipodean]

@pakman said in All Blacks 2025:

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:

@mariner4life much like the post 2am dancefloor hunt it's no secret I prefer big bodies.

Vaai, Finau and Savea is probably the best we can hope for with the current administration.

But I view with great scepticism stats suggesting Ardie does much at ruck time other than try to be the next person to carry.

I saw him do a solid clean out on Saturday, so seems he knows how to do it.

Must've tripped.

[Crazy Horse]

Has there been any word on Hotham's injury from the weekend?

[KiwiMurph]

@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks 2025:

Has there been any word on Hotham's injury from the weekend?

High ankle sprain

[sparky]

Sparky's 37 for the Rugby Championship (what I'd pick, not what I think it will be and obviously some guys will drop out if their injuries don't heal in time)

Tamati Williams
Ethan de Groot
Ollie Norris
Tyrell Lomax
Fletcher Newell
Pasilio Tosi

Codie Taylor
Asafo Aumua
Samisoni Taukei'aho

Scott Barrett (c)
Tupou Vaa'i
Patrick Tuipolutu
Fabian Holland
Sam Darry

Simon Parker (New Cap)
Samipeni Finau
Ardie Savea
Dalton Papalii
Christian Lio-Willie
Wallace Sititi

Cam Roigard
Cortez Ratima
Noah Hotham

Beauden Barrett
Damien McKenzie
Rivez Reihana (New Cap)

Jordie Barrett
Quinn Tupaea
Timoci Tavatavanawai
Billy Proctor
Anton Leinert-Brown

Reiko Ioane
Caleb Clarke
Emoni Narawa
Sevu Reece

Will Jordan
Ruben Love

On Standby:

George Bower, Brodie McAlister, Josh Beehre, Peter Lakai, Folau Fakatava, AJ Lam, Leroy Carter

Not considered: Ofa Tu'ungafasi (out for the season), Caleb Tangitau (needs to show form and fitness), Leicester Fainga'anuku (needs to show some form back in NZ), Riley Higgins (this world ain't ready yet)

[pakman]

@sparky Looks good but I think Lakai has credit in the bank over Lio Willie.

[sparky]

@pakman That was a tough call. My heart wanted to pick Peter Lakai, but my head went with CL-W. Slightly bigger unit and he's impressed me a lot with his decision making this year.

[Bones]

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

Slightly bigger unit

Que

[sparky]

@Bones

According to Wikipedia: Peter Lakai is 186cm and 108 kg. The same sauce claims CL-W is 189 cm and 111 kg.

[Bones]

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

@Bones

According to Wikipedia: Peter Lakai is 186cm and 108 kg. The same sauce claims CL-W is 189 cm and 111 kg.

The eye test thoroughly disagrees. And you really need to stop placing such reliance on AI and Wiki...

[sparky]

@Bones Those Wiki stats are the same as those on the Hurricanes and the Crusaders websites, but as you suggest we've no idea how reliable the measurements were.

[Mr Fish]

@sparky would do Jacobson and Lakai over Papali'i and Lio-Willie, and assuming everyone is fit, Lord over Darry. Otherwise, no arguments from me. Don't think Reihana will make the cut just yet, with another loosie selected in his place, but would like to see him involved.

[cgrant]

@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:

@sparky said in All Blacks 2025:

@Bones

According to Wikipedia: Peter Lakai is 186cm and 108 kg. The same sauce claims CL-W is 189 cm and 111 kg.

The eye test thoroughly disagrees. And you really need to stop placing such reliance on AI and Wiki...

Agree ! Lio Willie standing next to Kirifi proves that he must be around 182 - 184 cm high. I can't see how he could weigh more than 105 kgs.

[pakman]

Lakai I see as a 7 with utility value. CLW as an undersized 8.

[ploughboy]

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2025:

But Savea, Kirifi and Lakai (and to a lesser extent Lio-Willie) appear to be much the same.

can't agree with this point because Savea continues to be an enigma.

The ruck attendance stats posted in the other thread don't seem to match the eye test so i would be interest as to how many of those he arrived at 3rd and leaned on. He absolutely cleaned a couple later in the test, memorable for their exception.
But he's getting picked, he's playing 80, and he is going to do his own thing. The bigger question is what shirt should he wear?

The other 3 are small busy loose forwards without a real point of difference.

With Vaai and Finau playing the dirty stuff, Savea doing his thing, what do we need from the #8? Is it purely a worker? If so, then that guy can't be another smaller body, he needs to make a difference when contact is required.

I tell you what, a Finau, Savea, Vaai starting trio with Sititi off the bench would be tough to handle.

sevea should wear a jersey with S on the back,cos he fits no description of a position

[sparky]

@pakman CLW did okay in Test One and Two against France, but the Boks would clearly be a big step up.

[Victor Meldrew]

@brodean

I agree Robertson learned a lot and expanded the talent pool. Just hope he learned enough to get us closer to an established midfield and loose trio.

And the 10 spot is still problematic - at some stage we need to bite the bullet and give someone other than DMac and BB a decent opportunity