The All Blacks have made a few tweaks to their squad for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash with Argentina, with Richie Mo'unga named for his first Test start.
After starting their campaign with two dominant Bledisloe wins over the Wallabies, coach Steve Hansen has brought in two newcomers for the weekend's contest at Trafalgar Park in Nelson - the first All Blacks Test the city has ever held.
First five-eighth Richie Mo'unga is set to make his first Test start, while halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi will make his Test debut off the bench, the team revealed this morning.
Mo'unga has led the Crusaders to back-to-back Super Rugby titles but was demoted to running the water for the All Blacks with Barrett starting in the No.10 jersey and the versatile Damian McKenzie on the bench.
The Crusaders star ran the drinks during last month's Bledisloe clashes.
"While we’ve made a number of changes from our last outing, this is not a reflection on Argentina but rather a desire by us to grow the experience and depth of our squad," Hansen said in statement released this morning.
"Secondary to that, we also know that if we don’t use the whole squad across a long season, we’ll run out of steam later in the year."
Nehe Milner-Skudder has been named to start for the first time in nearly a year. He dislocated his shoulder, requiring surgery, last October as the All Blacks faced off against the Springboks in Cape Town.
Milner-Skudder will spend up to six months sidelined after dislocating his shoulder in the All Blacks' 25-24 win over the Springboks.
In May, he made his return to the starting line up for the Hurricanes.
The 27-year-old was a notable omission from the All Blacks' squad for last month's Bledisloe Cup Tests, returning to provincial rugby to prove his worth to selectors. And he did.
"He just looks sharp," All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster said earlier this month of his display in the Mitre 10 Cup.
"He always creates stuff, we know that. It was more a matter of him going back of getting two or three consistent games on the wing, and getting those instincts for playing in that position again," he added. "He's been ready to play, but we've had too many players to put on the park, he was one person we felt would benefit from time doing that."
Hansen emphasised today that Argentina is hungry.
"This means that we'll need to step up with our own response and be better than we were in our recent Test in Auckland," he said.
All Blacks
1. Karl Tu’inukuafe
2. Codie Taylor
3. Owen Franks
4. Brodie Retallick
5. Scott Barrett
6. Shannon Frizell
7. Ardie Savea
8. Kieran Read – captain
9. TJ Perenara
10. Richie Mo’unga
11. Waisake Naholo
12. Ngani Laumape
13. Jack Goodhue
14. Nehe Milner-Skudder
15. Ben Smith
16. Nathan Harris
17. Tim Perry
18. Ofa Tuungafasi
19. Samuel Whitelock
20. Luke Whitelock
21. Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi
22. Damian McKenzie
23. Anton Lienert-Brown
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