Aisle be Back: The Trek Continues

• By Kevin McCarthy 

There’s a prediction tool out there where you have a go at selecting the next All Blacks team. It’s actually quite revealing when you consider who you would pick, for the last real build-up game before the first test.

It’s then you notice that having 40 players to choose from (in theory) is not excessive, if you tuck away some of the stars for the series kickoff, rather than risking them against the Bulls.

You don’t want to lose to them as well.

In long tours of the past, much smaller squads faced longer itineraries. They didn’t have benches to fill out, but even so, the odd player would pick up the unfortunate tag of food bill, that is, the player who hardly got picked.

No wonder some star players would play through injury come test time. The comparisons to now are so apples to oranges, it’s largely meaningless.

The eight game tour we have here is probably ideal in the modern game. Just long enough to build up anticipation for the test and get the punditry at fever pitch level.

Not long enough to have the dirt-trackers harden into a disgruntled clique, shut out from the top 15 or 23.

Not long enough for too many injuries to be incurred. Tours of France used to have the All Blacks playing a succession of teams named French Selection at various places with good food and coffee.  And some gnarly forward packs to do some damage. That was 40 years ago.

Returning to 2026, we’ve had two games against two provinces shorn of their stars (as no doubt they will be when we have the return Springbok tour to New Zealand).

One was a laboured opening by a team that hasn’t played for a while, the second a rain-soaked demonstration of how good New Zealand sides are in wet conditions if allowed to play.

Not a great sample, but the fun of tours is how everyone reads what is happening into their preconceived ideas of what will happen in the test series.

Probably not the best predictive tool but you work with the little you have.

That means the Bulls game on Sunday will be intriguing. It seems the opposition will be better,  and the welcome will be fiercer. For those still chasing a spot in the test 23, this is the final shot, because there is  just one more provincial match sandwiched in between the test series proper.

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The NPC is going at such a clip, the Wellington Lions are already 3 and zip in the competition – the latest grief being inflicted at home by visiting North Harbour last night, 47-7. It was a tough watch for the few faithful at the stadium.

Du Plessis Kirifi is doing the heroics, out of position in midfield, but you’ve got to wonder if he needs to get back to No 7 quickly.

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All Blacks team to play Bulls in Pretoria

All Blacks Head Coach Dave Rennie has named his team to play the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday (NZT) in the third match of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.

Kick off 7.00PM local time (5.00AM Sunday 16 August NZT).

All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps and non-Test games in brackets):

1.  Xavier Numia (2, 0)
2. Codie Taylor (109, 0) (Captain)
3.  Tyrel Lomax (51, 0)
4.  Fabian Holland (12, 1)
5. Patrick Tuipulotu (57, 3)
6.  Simon Parker (8, 1)
7.  Anton Segner (2, 1)
8.  Peter Lakai (10, 1)
9.  Cortez Ratima (24, 2)
10. Josh Jacomb (0, 1)
11. Josh Moorby (2, 1)
12. Anton Lienert-Brown (90, 2)
13. Rieko Ioane (88, 1)
14. Leroy Carter (7, 1)
15. Beauden Barrett (144, 2)

16.Samisoni Taukei’aho (44, 1)
17. George Bower (26, 1)
18. Siale Lauaki (0, 1)
19. Josh Lord (15, 1)
20. Wallace Sititi (21, 1)
21. Kyle Preston (1, 2)
22. Timoci Tavatavanawai (2, 1)
23. Emoni Narawa (4, 1)