WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) 鈥� Anton Segner is set to become the first player born in Germany to play for the New Zealand All Blacks when he makes his debut off the bench against Italy in the second round of rugby’s on Saturday.
The 24-year-old backrower from the Auckland-based Blues was selected by among 11 changes to the lineup that in the tournament opener. Five of those changes are in the starting lineup. Segner will make his debut along with winger Josh Moorby.
and moved to New Zealand at age 15 in 2017 as an exchange student on an intended six-month stay. He attended Nelson College, the country’s oldest secondary school which was involved in the first rugby match in New Zealand in 1870 and has produced 23 All Blacks.
He later led the under-20 team of the Christchurch-based Crusaders and played for the Tasman Makos in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship before joining the Blues in 2024.
Segner said he first came into contact with New Zealand rugby while playing as a 10-year-old in Frankfurt where he encountered 鈥渁 whole bunch of Kiwi coaches who then inspired me to come over here to New Zealand to give it a crack.鈥�
鈥淚’ve experienced it first hand that rugby in New Zealand is like football (soccer) in Germany,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s a rugby-crazy country and that’s all I wanted. To make this (All Blacks) squad now is definitely a dream come true.鈥�
Rennie said Segner was the best player to come out of the Blues this season, valuable for his ball-winning ability in the loose, his resilience and his contribution at lineouts.
Moorby left New Zealand in 2024 to play for the French club Montpellier after two seasons in Super Rugby with the Wellington-based Hurricanes. He returned to the Hurricanes this year, scoring 17 tries to equal the Super Rugby season try-scoring record.
Rennie has left the structure of his backline mostly unchanged, retaining the inside backs combination of Cam Roigard at scrumhalf, and Jordie Barrett at inside center. Billy Proctor comes in for Quinn Tupaea at outside center and Leroy Carter will start on the left wing in place of Caleb Clarke.
Rennie has also tinkered with his backrow combination, naming Wallace Sititi on the blindside in place of Peter Lakai while retaining Luke Jacobson on the openside and captain Ardie Savea at the back of the scrum.
鈥淭here are a number of players and combinations who we felt deserved and would benefit from a second successive run, and other players who have earned the right to get their opportunity,鈥� Rennie said.
鈥淭his is a strong side to reflect the respect we have for this Italian team. They have shown through the Six Nations competition that they are capable of knocking over any team.鈥�
Tupou Vaa’i will join Sam Darry in the second row and Tyrel Lomax will start at tighthead prop in place of Fletcher Newell.
Among the changes on the bench, Samisoni Taukei’aho will cover hooker, George Bower offers a new option at prop, lock Josh Lord drops to the reserves after starting last week and Segner, Moorby and Anton Lienert-Brown feature for the first time in the Nations Championship.
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