All Blacks man mountain Tamaiti Williams and breakthrough star of 2024, Wallace Sititi, are fit and available for selection for the first time in the 2025 international season, and the pair appear to be raring to go in Buenos Aires.
Both players featured in June’s Super Rugby Pacific final on opposing teams, but haven’t featured in any contests in the two months since. Williams owes his absence to a knee injury, while Sititi has been nursing an ankle complaint.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has confirmed the pair will both be available for round two of the Rugby Championship this weekend, adding significant firepower to the Kiwi frontline.
The pair, now free from injury restrictions, were unleashed in training this week, but have each had their enthusiasm checked by All Blacks strength and conditioning coach Nic Gill, according to their teammate.
“They’ve got itchy feet; they’ve obviously been out for a long time now,” Tupou Vaa’i told reporters in Buenos Aires. “You could see at training today, they were in the mixer for everything. They got told to slow down by Gilly.
“It will be awesome to see them back in the mixer this week. Obviously, with Wally being the Breakthrough Player of the Year last year, it will be awesome to bring his skillset back into the mixer.
“Obviously, Tams as well, especially in our scrum, that’s his key area, and you saw on the weekend the battle up front. It will be good to bring someone like him back into the mixer.”
Fixture
Rugby Championship
Argentina
New Zealand
The returning duo add yet more firepower to an All Blacks pack that largely overpowered their South American counterparts in round one. Both the prop and the loose forward were two of the All Blacks’ most frequently employed ball-carriers in 2024 and key cogs in an attack that liked to play the ball at the line.
They also bring finishing power, something the All Blacks have been focusing on this week. Vaa’i outlined his side’s work-ons after their 41-24 victory.
“Nailling our opportunities once we get into their 22; we definitely left a few points out there. Probably just using the ball a little bit smarter than what we did on the weekend, and our carry-and-clean needs to improve.
“There were definitely a few mistakes in terms of our skillset that we didn’t really finish the job there. I’m sure that’s something that we’ve analysed today and something that we’ll be working hard to nail come Saturday.”
The versatile forward credited Argentina for their defensive pressure and execution, highlighting the challenge that awaits them in round two.
“We just have to adapt to whatever the defence brings; in this case, it’s against the Argentinians. We saw a bit of linespeed last weekend, and they did put a bit of pressure on our skillset, so it’s just finding our timing in our takeoff and just adapting to whatever picture’s in front of us, really.”
With the other game of round one of the tournament seeing an all-time comeback from Australia, some fans could be forgiven for thinking history might just repeat itself when Los Puams struck twice to start the second half. But New Zealand had a counterstrike up their sleeve.
“Obviously, we started strong in that first half and then came out in the second half and started pretty slow. Los Pumas put us under a bit of pressure. We just went back to what we know works for us, our set piece and our maul dug us out of a big hole. That managed to get us over the try line a couple of times to seal the deal.”