Twelve All Blacks released to play for Provincial Unions

Twelve members of the All Blacks Rugby Championship squad will represent their Provincial Unions on Friday 2 August and Saturday 3 August.

The players will be spread across six Bunnings Warehouse NPC pre-season matches, five on Friday and one on Saturday.

Four players, David Havili, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder and Noah Hotham will play for Tasman against Southland in Christchurch on Friday, with the other eight players spread across matches in Taranaki, Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury and Northland.

The All Blacks Rugby Championship squad will assemble at the NZCIS in Upper Hutt on Sunday, 4 August in preparation for the first test of the tournament against Argentina at Sky Stadium in Wellington on 10 August.

The list of All Blacks playing for their provincial teams is as follows:

Friday 2 August

Tasman v Southland, Christchurch Football Club, 1:00pm.
Tasman: David Havili, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder, Noah Hotham

Taranaki v Bay of Plenty, Urenui Sportsground, 1:00pm.
Taranaki: Josh Lord.
Bay of Plenty: Sam Cane, Pasilio Tosi

Wellington v Manawatū, NZCIS, 12.00pm
Wellington: Billy Proctor

Auckland v Counties Manukau, Ōrākei Domain, 1:00pm
Auckland: Caleb Clarke

Canterbury v Otago, Foster Park Rolleston RFC, 2.05pm
Canterbury: George Bell.  

Saturday 3 August

Northland v North Harbour, Pohe Island, Whangarei, 1:00pm.
Northland: Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
North Harbour: Wallace Sititi.