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The All Blacks 23 for Cape Town showdown with Stormers unpacked

Right now it is not the All Blacks preferred Test team, but there is plenty of Test match experience on show at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium on Friday night.

Published

39 minutes ago

5th August 2026

Keo

Rieko Ioane of New Zealand tackled by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu of South Africa during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand at DHL Stadium on September 07, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images)

The 2026 Super Rugby finalists, the Hurricanes and Chiefs, dominate the match 23 for the All Blacks first tour match in South Africa in 30 years.

All Blacks

The Hurricanes and Chiefs provide 14 players, although seasoned Chiefs inside centre/second five eight Anton Lienert-Brown did not play for the Chiefs in the most recent Super Rugby campaign, having spent a season in Japan. He has returned to the Chiefs for next season.

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has picked Test veterans Beauden Barrett (No 10), Rieko Ioane (11) and Lienert-Brown (12) in his backline and balanced his pack selections with relative newbies and a few seasoned Test players.

Every player in the starting XV has played Test rugby for the All Blacks and 21 of the 23 are Test players.

Rennie has relied heavily on the Super Rugby form of the two best teams in the competition, with the Hurricanes winning a one-sided final 60-5.

Rennie’s Test All Blacks won all three home Tests in the Nations Championship, beating France, Italy and Ireland.

Only 7 of the Ireland match 23 are selected against the Stormers.

Stormers XV compared with Ireland

No.	Stormers selection	Ireland selection
1	George Bower	Did not play
2	Samisoni Taukei’aho	Did not play
3	Pasilio Tosi	Did not play
4	Fabian Holland	Did not play
5	Patrick Tuipulotu	Started No 5
6	Simon Parker	Did not play
7	Peter Lakai	Reserve No 20
8	Wallace Sititi	Did not play
9	Cortez Ratima	Reserve No 21
10	Beauden Barrett	Did not play
11	Rieko Ioane	Did not play
12	Anton Lienert-Brown	Reserve No 22
13	Billy Proctor	Did not play
14	Leroy Carter	Did not play
15	Josh Moorby	Started No 11

Stormers reserves compared with Ireland

No.	Stormers selection	Ireland selection
16	Asafo Aumua	Reserve No 16
17	Ollie Norris	Did not play
18	Siale Lauaki	Did not play
19	Sam Darry	Did not play
20	Ethan Blackadder	Did not play
21	Kyle Preston	Did not play
22	Josh Jacomb	Did not play
23	Caleb Clarke	Reserve No 23

The 16 brought into the match 23 against the Stormers

George Bower, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Pasilio Tosi, Fabian Holland, Simon Parker, Wallace Sititi, Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Billy Proctor, Leroy Carter, Ollie Norris, Siale Lauaki, Sam Darry, Ethan Blackadder, Kyle Preston and Josh Jacomb.

The seven retained from Ireland

Patrick Tuipulotu: starts → starts
Josh Moorby: starts → starts, moving from No 11 to No 15
Peter Lakai: reserve → starts
Cortez Ratima: reserve → starts
Anton Lienert-Brown: reserve → starts
Asafo Aumua: reserve → reserve
Caleb Clarke: reserve → reserve

So 10 of the Stormers starting XV did not feature at all against Ireland, while another three starters Lakai, Ratima and Lienert-Brown were on the bench against Ireland. Only Tuipulotu and Moorby start both matches.

All Blacks v Stormers in the Greatest Rugby Rivalry Tour Opener in Cape Town

All Blacks match 23	Test caps
Starting XV (1–15)	563
Reserves (16–23)	85
Match 23 total	648

Siale Lauaki and Josh Jacomb are uncapped

All Blacks starting XV

No.	Player	Super Rugby club
1	George Bower	Crusaders
2	Samisoni Taukei’aho	Chiefs
3	Pasilio Tosi	Hurricanes
4	Fabian Holland	Highlanders
5	Patrick Tuipulotu (c)	Blues
6	Simon Parker	Chiefs
7	Peter Lakai	Hurricanes
8	Wallace Sititi	Chiefs
9	Cortez Ratima	Chiefs
10	Beauden Barrett	Blues
11	Rieko Ioane	Blues
12	Anton Lienert-Brown	Chiefs
13	Billy Proctor	Hurricanes
14	Leroy Carter	Chiefs
15	Josh Moorby	Hurricanes

Reserves

No.	Player	Super Rugby club
16	Asafo Aumua	Hurricanes
17	Ollie Norris	Chiefs
18	Siale Lauaki	Hurricanes
19	Sam Darry	Blues
20	Ethan Blackadder	Crusaders
21	Kyle Preston	Crusaders
22	Josh Jacomb	Chiefs
23	Caleb Clarke	Blues