All Blacks drop blindside flanker Simon Parker, promote Wallace Sititi for Scotland test
Friday, 7 November 2025
Leicester Fainga’anuku has once again emerged as the All Blacks’ equivalent of Mr Fix-it, the muscle guy who could make opponents squirm with a mix of physical presence and a mean attitude if things get sticky in Edinburgh.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has sent a message to Scotland counterpart Gregor Townsend and his team with the decision to start Fainga’anuku at centre for the test at Murrayfield on Sunday morning (NZT).
The memorandum to Townsend looks something like this: That the All Blacks want to use Fainga’anuku to imitate a cannon ball and blast holes in the Scots’ defence, something he did with a degree of success when he took the field as a replacement in the 16th minute against Ireland in Chicago last weekend.
Robertson has made two other significant changes to his starting XV for the second test of the Grand Slam tour.
Blindside flanker Simon Parker has been dropped. After six consecutive starts at No 6 and No 8, he has to step aside for Wallace Sititi.
Josh Lord will start at lock.
With captain Scott Barrett unavailable because of a deep cut below his knee, Lord has been promoted to drop into the second row alongside Fabian Holland. Sam Darry is on the bench and poised to make his first test appearance of the year.
Openside flanker Ardie Savea will be skipper.
With Jordie Barrett forced to retire from the tour with a leg injury, Fainga’anuku will enter the re-jigged midfield; Quinn Tupaea, who began the Ireland match at centre, has moved to second five-eighth to accommodate the newcomer.
The promotion of Fainga’anuku, who has played just nine tests, means he jostles his way past several big names: Rieko Ioane and Anton Lienert-Brown are both creeping towards the 90-test mark but they, along with Billy Proctor, who was the preferred centre until Bledisloe II, have had to stand aside.
Proctor has been included in the substitutes.
Despite being a specialist centre, unlike Ioane and Lienert-Brown who can cover several positions, Proctor has been presented with an excellent chance to re-ignite a career that appeared to be in danger of stalling on nine caps.
Parker, meanwhile, will be forced to join Ioane and Lienert-Brown in the stands at Murrayfield.
The last five of Parker’s appearances were at No 6; he made his debut at No 8 in the ill-fated test against Argentina in Buenos Aires in the second match of the Rugby Championship.
Now he can’t crack the match-day 23.
Parker, who was forced to leave Soldier Field in Chicago for a head injury assessment but was allowed to return to the field, had a modest output against the Irish; there were a couple of missed tackles, and he struggled to make yardage with carries.
As Robertson continues the hunt for a productive loose forward unit that could bite the opposition with its speed, capacity to smack bodies with heavy tackles and slow down ball in the rucks, he has put his faith in Sititi.
Tupou Vaa’i, Samipeni Finau, Tupou Vaa’i and Parker have worn the No 6 jersey previously: So now Sititi gets a shot. He hasn’t started on the side of the scrum this year.
Robertson has once again stuck with a five-three split in the reserves.
The promotion Sititi to the starting team has opened up a space for specialist openside flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi, who, if the game is allowed to flow by referee Nic Berry - unlike the previous week’s shambles when the officials’ interference had a significant impact - could use his pace, jackals at the rucks and link-play to enable the All Blacks to up the tempo.
Given their fast finish against the Irish, when they scored three tries in the final quarter and could have had another at the death of a pass by fullback Will Jordan hadn’t been forward, the All Blacks should enter this fixture confident they can again put the hammer down.
The All Blacks have never been beaten by Scotland since the teams first clashed in 1905.
All Blacks: Will Jordan, Leroy Carter, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Quinn Tupaea, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, Cam Roigard, Peter Lakai, Ardie Savea, Wallace Sititi, Fabian Holland, Josh Lord, Fletcher Newell, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot. Reseves: Samisoni Taukei’aho, Tamati Williams, Pasilio Tosi, Sam Darry, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Cortez Ratima, Billy Proctor, Damian McKenzie.