1
14 All Blacks released to play NPC quarter-finals
By Ben Smith
14 All Blacks have been released from the squad to play in this weekendâs NPC quarter-finals, including halfback TJ Perenara who will play for the Wellington Lions against Counties.
ADVERTISEMENT
The quarter-final will give Perenara at least one more home game at Sky Stadium before heading to Japan at the conclusion of the All Blacks end of year tour.
Three other All Blacks, Ruben Love, Asafo Aumua and Billy Proctor will join Perenara for the top-seeded Lions do-or-die clash.
Perenara will go head-to-head with Hurricanes teammate Cam Roigard, who was named to return in the All Blacks squad this week, for an intriguing battle of the No 9s.
In the Hawkeâs Bay versus Bay of Plenty quarter-final, only one All Black will feature in Pasilio Tosi.
Taranaki versus Waikato will see Stephen Perofeta, Luke Jacobson, and Samipeni Finau line up in New Plymouth.
In Sundayâs battle between the two Crusadersâ feeder provinces, five All Blacks will feature for Tasman and Canterbury.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ethan Blackadder and David Havili will turn out for the Mako, while George Bell, Fletcher Newell and Sam Darry will play for Canterbury.
Good to see that there's 14 available All Blacks playing for their respective provinces this weekend.
For mine its Wellington vs Counties on friday with the Lions having home advantage a major plus for their cause and with that in mind, should steal it..or not.
Looking forward to watching some excellent rugby from other parts of the country and I'm certain that every fringe player will see for themselves what it takes to earn selection for an All Blacks jersey and give them some extra motivation.
What a blockbuster list of finals.
1 v 8 playing for the rematch of Jonah Tali Lomu's trophy (hope the kids get to go to this one too) where 8 smashed the top seed just 2 weeks ago.
Battle for the Bay.
Chiefs derby between Taranaki and Waikato.
Crusaders derby between Canterbury and the Mako.
You could wish for a better weekend of games.
The biggest game of the year in New Zealand is BOP vs Hawkes Bay State to decide who is the real Bay.
I am assuming Sam Cane is badly injured and thatâs why he isnât suiting up.
He clocked up a lot of minutes in TRC. From those 14 players, only TJ is anywhere near Sam Cane's involvement and we all understand why he is let to play for the Lions.