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international
Even with Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson, Anton Segner and Ethan Blackadder missing from All black people‘ A 23-man squad for the Wallabies in Sydney, Dave Rennie’s side were far from lacking in quality at loose forward.
Rennie named the same trio to start the second Test at Sydney’s Accor Stadium against the Wallabies as he did a week earlier in Auckland, featuring Tupou Vaa’i, Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi.
Lakai and Sititi had their moments during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour of South Africa, but the duo have been significantly boosted by recent absences from the All Blacks squad.
Lakai finished with 18 carries against the Wallabies, making sixteen tackles, missing just four. Meanwhile, Sititi chipped in for a first-half try and finished Saturday afternoon with 15 disposals and eleven tackles.
The All Blacks head coach explained that Lakai has consistently impressed the entire coaching staff throughout the 2026 campaign.
“Oh, I thought he was awesome South Africa too,” Rennie told the media in his post-match press conference.
“I think he’s just an amazing athlete, isn’t he? Like, he runs as a fullback, and he’s got great skills. But he hits hard and has a post-match presence.”
“So he’s pretty special. Pete had another big word today.”
The Hurricanes the loose forward also appeared in midfield at one point during the second half as the All Blacks were down to 13 men.
Rennie admitted he was proud of the group’s character in the second half but was frustrated that they had dominated the opening forty minutes.
“I’m proud of the character and courage, we trained all week with two midfielders who basically didn’t play today.
“So Rieko and Big Jim (Tavatavanawai) teamed up, I thought they did a really good job. Obviously, Chay Fihaki came in, and he ended up getting 40 minutes.
“Look, we ended up having to play Peter Lakai in midfield for a while and finished the game with 13. I thought he had a lot of character, and we learned a lot from controlled situations.
“But yeah, disappointed we weren’t as clinical, and I think we could have put our foot on the throat if we’d scored a couple of goals earlier.”
All Blacks reserve captain Codie Taylor believes this group is developing well under Rennie, especially after Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour against the Springboks, where the All Blacks were clearly second best.
“I think this week was a really good challenge for us as a group. We honestly looked at each other after that RGR, and as always, you’re never satisfied, and we probably came away from it pretty drained.”
“But also knowing that we’re playing a brand of rugby that we can be really proud of and we’re really growing, and to go and get Bledisloe, and then a real mental challenge this week about having the standards that we want to live up to in this team and step up, and I thought we did that for most of the game today.”
