Blues squad to travel to South Africa
Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan has named his 26-man squad to travel toSouth Africa.
The team departs for the Republic on Friday afternoon, playing the Sharks inDurbanon June 29 before heading toBloemfonteinto face the Cheetahs on July 6.
Current All Blacks squad members Charles Piutau, Francis Saili, Steven Luatua, Piri Weepu, Keven Mealamu and Rene Ranger will join the team early next week following the third Test match againstFrancein New Plymouth on Saturday night.
The squad features 10 players who have not travelled to South Africabefore, including Wider Training Group player Lolagi Visinia, who played for the New Zealand Under-20s this morning in their loss toEngland.
Visinia will fly fromFrancefollowing the playoff match againstSouth Africato join the team.
Kirwan said he was pleased with the make-up of his squad.
“I think the biggest factor for us was waiting on the guys from the All Blacks and making sure they’re all OK to travel,” he said.
“We’ve gone for two halfbacks and three hookers so we’ve taken a bit of a risk there. We’re going to bring Lolagi Visinia over from the NZ 20s because he covers two or three positions so that made it a little bit hard on someone like Marty McKenzie, but when you’re touring it’s just a matter of making sure you get the mix right.”
Kirwan said it was crucial to kick-start the tour with a victory over the Sharks to stay in touch with the top six.
“The second week really means nothing yet. The Sharks game is a must-win for us, it’s like our final and that’s because if we win that then we stay completely in touch with the top six.
“The Cheetahs will then become a different kettle of fish so we just need to get back on the horse and play a good game of footy.”
The Blues squad to travel toSouth Africais:
Props
Tim Perry
Sam Prattley
Angus Ta’avao
Ofa Tu’ungafasi
Hookers
Quentin MacDonald
Keven Mealamu
James Parsons
Locks
Anthony Boric
Culum Retallick
Ali Williams
Loose forwards
Luke Braid
Steven Luatua
Peter Saili
Brendon O’Connor
Kane Barrett
Halfbacks
Jamison Gibson-Park
Piri Weepu
First five-eighths
BadenKerr
Chris Noakes
Midfielders
Francis Saili
Jackson Willison
Rene Ranger
Outside backs
George Moala
Frank Halai
Charles Piutau
Lolagi Visinia
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