Expect an 'energised and excited' Rieko Ioane in bench role for All Blacks

The All Blacks‘ team naming for their Test against Argentina saw a couple of changes to the familiar matchday 23, most notably the selection of Anton Lienert-Brown in the No. 13 jersey.

The promotion from what had been most commonly an impact role to begin Scott Robertson’s head coaching tenure as well as during the Rugby World Cup knockout stages, came at the expense of Rieko Ioane.

Having owned the starting jersey for multiple seasons, the winger-turned-centre’s demotion could have disparaged Ioane, but assistant coach Leon MacDonald says the speedster has been working hard to show selectors what he’s capable of.

“Rieks has been great this week, he’s just got into his work really well with a great attitude and worked really hard on a lot of areas of his game,” the former Blues head coach told media at Friday’s captains run.

“He’s had a chat to Razor around what they expect from him and taken that on board and I think you’ll see a very energised and excited Rieko on Saturday night.”

Also earning selection in the starting unit is Test rookie Sam Darry, who is set to start alongside Tupou Vaa’i in the second row.

Injuries to captain Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu have made way for the youngsters, with Josh Lord returning from injury to provide impact off the bench.

Despite the youth of the locking unit, MacDonald said the coaches had every bit of faith in the trio.

“Very confident. Tupou, in particular, has got some good experience already and he’ll be leading our lineout, he’s done a fantastic job at that and is looking forward to that opportunity.

“And Sam Darry’s just made every post a winner since he’s come in. He’s shown some real composure and maturity both on and off the field. So he’s excited about his opportunity as well.”

As for the opposition, Los Pumas have become one of New Zealand’s most familiar rivals since joining what was once the Tri-Nations, with a strong run of results against the Kiwis in the last World Cup cycle.

“They’ve become a genuine top-tier nation; semi-finalists at the World Cup, they’ve beaten the All Blacks, they come with a lot of confidence in their game, they know their game inside-out and their strengths and they play to them.

“They have a unique style in the way they play, especially their attack. So, they’ll challenge us across the park on their attack, they like to hold the ball and build phases in attack and are very abrasive in defence, especially at the breakdown.

“So, a lot of those areas we’re going to have to be right on.”