New Zealand Head Coach Scott Robertson has unveiled his roster for the Rugby Championship. Robertson’s roster features Scott Barrett as captain. The 81-time capped All Black is joined by his brother, Jordie Barrett (71 caps) as one vice captain and Ardie Savea (97 caps) as the other.
Scott Barrett’s other All Black brother, Beauden Barrett is also included. He is the most capped player on the roster with 136 caps. Every player on the roster is selected based on the fact that they are contracted to a Super Rugby franchise based in New Zealand.
The All Blacks will open the 2025 Rugby Championship with a two match tour of Argentina. It is the reverse of 2024 when Argentina toured New Zealand, playing matches in Wellington and Auckland. The 2025 edition of the Rugby Championship sees Los Pumas at home in Córdoba and Buenos Aires in the first and second rounds.
The All Blacks will travel to Argentina on August 08 to prepare for the opening round match at the Estadio Mario Kempes in Córdoba. The test match will be played on August 16. Game two will be a week later on August 23 at Vélez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires. Pictured below, Véles Sarsfield was the former home venue of Los Jaguares in Super Rugby from 2016-2020.
Robertson’s roster includes players who will not travel to Argentina while they recover from injury. They are: Tyrel Lomax, Luke Jacobson, Cameron Roigard, Noah Hotham and Caleb Clarke. In addition, the trio of Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Asafo Aumua and Stephen Perofeta are unavailable due to injuries.
Five players are uncapped. Of them, flanker Simon Parker has been named in the squad while prop Tevita Mafileo, scrum-half Kyle Preston and utility back Leroy Carter have been named as injury cover.
Simon Parker makes the step up after already having played for New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand u20’s. He has already played for New Zealand at senior level. He did so for the All Blacks XV in 2024. Fellow uncapped forward, Tevita Mafileo has also played for the All Blacks XV. The prop also represented New Zealand at u20’s level.
Scrum-half Kyle Preston impressed as a Super Rugby rookie in 2025. He and utility back, Leroy Carter are the newcomers in the backline. Carter is a former New Zealand 7’s player. He was nominee for the World Player of the Year Award in 2023. Two Argentines, Rodrigo Isgro and Marcos Moneta, were also nominated with Isgró named as the World’s Best Player in 2023.
| 2025 RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP – NEW ZEALAND ROSTER |
HOOKER
Codie Taylor (Crusaders, 98 caps)
Samisoni Taukei’aho (Chiefs, 33 caps)
Brodie McAlister (Chiefs, 1 cap)
PROP
Ethan de Groot (Highlanders, 32 caps)
Tamaiti Williams (Crusaders, 18 caps)
Ollie Norris (Chiefs, 2 caps)
Tyrel Lomax (Hurricanes, 45 caps)
Fletcher Newell (Crusaders, 25 caps)
Pasilio Tosi (Hurricanes, 9 caps)
SECOND-ROW
Scott Barrett (Crusaders, 81 caps)
Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues, 55 caps)
Tupou Vaa’i (Chiefs, 40 caps)
Fabian Holland (Highlanders, 3 caps)
BACK-ROW
Samipeni Finau (Chiefs, 11 caps)
Simon Parker (Chiefs, uncapped)
Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika, 97 caps)
Du’Plessis Kirifi (Hurricanes, 3 caps)
Wallace Sititi (Chiefs, 10 caps)
Peter Lakai (Hurricanes, 3 caps)
Luke Jacobson (Chiefs, 24 caps)
SCRUM-HALF
Cortez Ratima (Chiefs, 14 caps)
Cameron Roigard (Hurricanes, 12 caps)
Noah Hotham (Crusaders, 2 caps)
FLY HALF
Beauden Barrett (Blues, 136 caps)
Damian McKenzie (Chiefs, 64 caps)
CENTER
Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs, 85 caps)
Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes, 71 caps)
Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs, 16 caps)
Billy Proctor (Hurricanes, 4 caps)
Timoci Tavatavanawai (Highlanders, 2 caps)
BACK-THREE
Rieko Ioane (Blues, 83 caps)
Caleb Clarke (Blues, 29 caps)
Sevu Reece (Crusaders, 34 caps)
Emoni Narawa (Chiefs, 3 caps)
Will Jordan (Crusaders, 44 caps)
Ruben Love (Hurricanes, 2 caps)
| INJURY COVER – NEW ZEALAND ROSTER |
George Bower (Crusaders, 23 caps)
Tevita Mafileo (Hurricanes, uncapped)
Josh Lord (Chiefs, 7 caps)
Finlay Christie (Blues, 23 caps)
Kyle Preston (Crusaders, uncapped)
Leroy Carter (Chiefs, uncapped)
