Where do you start? Any of the All Blacks are worthy of keeping an eye on, but there are some interesting back stories to some of the selections.

Brodie’s Back & New Stars Emerge

Coach Ian Foster has gone for a mix of the experienced and the untested as he looks to get his coaching tenure off the ground after a somewhat rocky start. Up front, all eyes will be on 6'8" Brodie Rettalick, making his return to the All Blacks after a sabbatical year plying his trade for the Kobelco Steelers in Japan. The big guy touched down 8 tries in 13 games in the Top League, before Kobelco was skewered in the playoff Quarter Finals by the Kubota Spears. Fiji might prove just the test he needs to return close to the form that saw him snag World Rugby Player of the Year 2014.

At the other end of the experience spectrum, we'll see Ethan Blackadder picking up just his second cap at openside flanker, the late blooming George Bower his second at loose head prop, and Blues Number 8 Hoskins Sotutu looking to transfer his excellent Super Rugby form to the international stage.

Fijian Heritage Comes To The fray

Bower is a great example of one of today's hot topics - the ABs and other tier one countries selecting players who could otherwise qualify to play for Pacific Island nations. George will be lining up against Fiji, despite carrying the nickname "The Fijian Bulldozer", although he was actually born in Wellington, NZ. That's not the case for 24 yr old winger Sevu Reece, who moved to Hamilton, NZ at the age of 17. His early pro career was almost derailed after he plead guilty to a domestic abuse charge in 2018, losing a contract offer from Ireland's Connacht Pro14 franchise in the process. A rededicated Reece went on to top the Super Rugby try scoring chart in 2019 with the Crusaders, and earned a spot on the AB squad for the 2019 World Cup. With his nose for the try line, he'll be a major threat to his Fijian mates.

The Scotsman In Black

While it's the Pacific Islands that are most often cited as examples of the big boys poaching players from the little guys, coming off the bench for the ABs will be Scottish-born scrum half, Finlay Christie. The 25yr old Scot moved to Pukekohe at age 7, and is looking to stake a claim to the number 9 jersey after an outstanding contribution to the Blues victorious 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign. Aaron Smith gets the start at 9 for his 98th cap, but opportunity will soon be knocking for the next generation of All Black scrum halves.

Ongoing Clash of Titens 

(See what we did there?)

Then course, there is the ongoing Beaudy vs Richie battle for the 10-shirt. Richie Mo'unga held serve last week in the 102-0 trouncing of an under strength Tonga, but Beauden Barrett will be making his case vs a stronger Fiji outfit this week. I'm not sure we're going to learn an awful lot that we don't already know about these two excellent performers.