Ahead of their date with world No. 1 ranked Ireland in Dublin, New Zealand have decided to leave recent incumbent loosehead prop Ethan de Groot on the sideline.
New Zealand's National Provincial Championship pits the various corners of the country's professional rugby community against one another in a unique and storied competition.
Despite the festive atmosphere of Sam Cane's farewell tour and a more complete showing in the final Bledisloe, the first Rugby Championship under Razor will go down in the books as a failure despite having plenty of positives.
After the All Blacks' losses to South Africa, in addition to the one conceded to Argentina, the fingers are now being pointed at Super Rugby for the results.
New Zealand must seek incremental gains having seen the rest of the rugby world reduce their advantage.
The All Blacks never gave up in a Test match true to its name against Ireland on Sunday morning.
The Welshman, who has died aged 80, is the only player to have captained the British and Irish Lions to a Test series victory against New Zealand.
June 4 is the 25th anniversary of the last Wales amateur era team… RugbyPass looks at how their players coped with professionalism after the 1995 World Cup.
With the start of the 2020 Six Nations now just five weeks away, Gregor Townsend has confirmed the staff he will be working with.