Team news

Fainga'anuku starts on wing - New Zealand name team to play Ireland in quarter-final

New Zealand head coach Ian Foster has announced his squad to face Ireland at Stade de France on Saturday, 14 October.

New Zealand head coach Ian Foster has named his match-day 23 to face Ireland at Stade de France on Saturday, with Leicester Fainga'anuku (pictured) starting on the left wing after Mark Tele'a was dropped for disciplinary reasons. In all there are six changes to his New Zealand starting XV from their 73-0 victory against Uruguay, with in-form Damian McKenzie dropping to the bench and Scott Barrett getting the nod over Sam Whitelock in the second row.

1 Ethan de Groot
2 Codie Taylor
3 Tyrel Lomax
4 Brodie Retallick
5 Scott Barrett
6 Shannon Frizell
7 Sam Cane (c)
8 Ardie Savea
9 Aaron Smith
10 Richie Mo'unga
11 Leicester Fainga'anuku
12 Jordie Barrett
13 Rieko Ioane
14 Will Jordan
15 Beauden Barrett

Replacements:
16 Dane Coles
17 Tamaiti Williams
18 Fletcher Newell
19 Samuel Whitelock
20 Dalton Papali'i
21 Finlay Christie
22 Damian McKenzie
23 Anton Lienert-Brown

  • There are eight players in the match-day team who started all three tests against Ireland in 2022 – Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ardie Savea, Aaron Smith, Codie Taylor and captain Sam Cane. 
  • Jordie Barrett is the only All Black who played every minute of the series (240).
  • Will Jordan is on a three-game try-scoring streak against Ireland, crossing against them in Dublin in 2021, and in Dunedin and Wellington in 2022. He has scored four tries in three games at RWC 2023 and 27 tries in 28 All Blacks tests since making his debut in 2020.
  • Sam Cane has won just one of his three tests against Ireland as captain. No All Blacks captain has ever lost more than two tests in this fixture, after Kieran Read suffered two defeats (2016 and 2018) and Sam Whitelock one (2021).
  • Richie Mo’unga has scored the fourth-most Rugby World Cup points for the All Blacks (90), behind Dan Carter (191), Grant Fox (170), and Andrew Mehrtens (163).
  • Leicester Fainga’anuku has scored four tries in two games at RWC 2023. He made his test debut against Ireland last year, but was limited in his opportunities on attack averaging just six carries and 30 metres per game across two appearances.