New Zealand Rugby have announced that a new All Blacks XV team will be built this year and will play three fixtures heading into the winter.
The team will act as a stepping-stone side for players who are up and coming in the All Blacks ranks and allow for established players to stake their claim at a place back in the first team if they fall down the pecking order.
NZR’s chief rugby officier Nigel Cass believes that the team will be a brilliant way to give players something to work for before making the biggest step into the national side.
“The All Blacks XV will be our second-tier team below the All Blacks and made up New Zealand’s ‘next best’ players. This is a fantastic opportunity for those players to experience a national team environment and prove themselves on the international stage, or for those who have already worn the All Blacks jersey to get more game time at this level and potentially earn a recall to the team. The high-performance benefits of this team will be significant. It will help to develop the next group of players, many of whom will likely become our future All Blacks, as well as give further opportunities for our coaches and other team personnel. We also believe that this will aid with retention of players and personnel in New Zealand, which will benefit our Super Rugby clubs and provincial unions as well as the All Blacks,” he said.
There were teams made before in New Zealand’s history such as New Zealand A and the Junior All Blacks, that had the same intention as this new side.
It has been confirmed that the team will go on a tour of northern hemisphere venues over the coming years.
While sports promotion company Left Field Live will have the rights to their games over the next two years and it is believed that a game with Fiji in Canada will be announced later this afternoon.
That game appears set to be played in later October, with another two fixtures to be announced for November in due course as they look to build a team for the future.
