Injuries to All Blacks loosies Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson and Dalton Papali'i have forced them out of the All Blacks squad to take on Japan and the Northern Tour.
The three will not be available to travel with the squad on Thursday due to injury.
All Blacks Head Coach Scott Robertson says this has created an opportunity for 21 year old Hurricanes loose forward Peter Lakai, and 23 year old Chiefs lock Josh Lord to come into the squad.
Robertson says this is hugely disappointing for Ethan, Luke and Dalton, but they know the three will be working on recovering well with a view to making themselves available again as soon as possible.
He says this opens up opportunities for some other players though. The All Blacks coach says in addition, seven members of the All Blacks XV squad will be travelling to Japan with the All Blacks as training cover.
He says Bradley Slater, George Bower, Fabian Holland, Christian Lio-Willie, Oliver Haig, Harry Plummer, and AJ Lam will then join the All Blacks XV squad in Ireland, with the possible exception of one further call-up to cover the 36th spot in the All Blacks squad.
Robertson says they will assess the status of Blackadder, Jacobson and Papali'i’s injuries prior to travelling to England, to determine whether they are going to require that additional injury cover.
The All Blacks play Japan next Saturday before facing England on Sunday 3rd November.
Source: allblacks.com
