The All Blacks XV is New Zealand’s second national men’s rugby union team, sitting one rung below the famous All Blacks and above age-grade sides. Run by New Zealand Rugby (NZR), it is a high-performance development team: a place where fringe Super Rugby professionals, standout provincial players and uncapped prospects test themselves against touring clubs and emerging nations before they are ready for full Test rugby. This guide explains what the squad actually is, how players are chosen, its verified match record, and the real people it has helped push into the senior side.
Quick Facts
| Team | All Blacks XV (New Zealand’s second national men’s XV) |
|---|---|
| Governing body | New Zealand Rugby (NZR) |
| Status | High-performance development side; matches are not official Tests |
| Current name since | 2022 (re-branded from earlier Junior All Blacks / New Zealand A sides) |
| Head coach (2025–26) | Jamie Joseph |
| Captain (2025) | Dalton Papali’i |
| Main talent sources | Super Rugby Pacific and the NPC |
| Record (to 1 Nov 2025) | 28 played – 25 won, 2 lost, 1 drawn (approx. 89% win rate) |
What is the All Blacks XV?
The All Blacks XV is a selection of New Zealand’s next-best players that plays a small number of non-Test fixtures each year, usually on a short end-of-season tour to the Northern Hemisphere or against visiting sides. It is not a social or invitational team: squads are chosen by national selectors, players wear a version of the black jersey, and results are tracked closely. But the matches are exhibition and development fixtures rather than official internationals, which has a very specific consequence explained further below.
Think of it as the bridge between club and franchise rugby and the full senior All Blacks team. A player can shine in Super Rugby Pacific and still find the jump to Test level enormous. The All Blacks XV gives selectors a controlled environment to see how those players cope with international travel, unfamiliar opponents and a national team culture before the stakes become permanent.
From Junior All Blacks to All Blacks XV
New Zealand’s second team has carried several names over the decades. Earlier versions were known as the Junior All Blacks, New Zealand A and New Zealand B, with the Junior All Blacks label used at various points from the late 1950s onward and revived in the mid-2000s. The team was re-launched and re-branded as the All Blacks XV in 2022, and that is the modern identity the current squad carries. The name change signalled a clearer, ongoing role in the high-performance pathway rather than an occasional one-off selection.
How it differs from the other “Blacks” teams
The All Blacks XV is frequently confused with other New Zealand representative teams, so it helps to separate them clearly. The All Blacks are the senior men’s Test side. The Māori All Blacks are a representative team selected on whakapapa (Māori ancestry) rather than development status. The New Zealand Under-20s (often nicknamed the Baby Blacks) are an age-grade side. The Black Ferns XV is the equivalent second-tier women’s team. The All Blacks XV is distinct from all of these: it is non-age-restricted, selected on form and potential, and exists primarily to grow the next wave of senior All Blacks.
How the All Blacks XV squad is selected
Squads are named by New Zealand Rugby’s national selectors, working in step with the senior All Blacks coaching group, and are drawn almost entirely from players active in the New Zealand system. The pool is weighted toward form players in Super Rugby Pacific and the National Provincial Championship (NPC), which means a strong provincial campaign is one of the clearest routes into the squad.
Selection generally falls into a few recognisable groups: uncapped young prospects being fast-tracked, experienced Super Rugby professionals who are close to All Blacks selection but not quite there, and occasionally senior players returning from injury or needing game time. Because the squad changes tour to tour, there is no fixed “All Blacks XV team” – it is re-picked around who is in form and who the selectors most want to assess.
Do All Blacks XV matches award Test caps?
No. All Blacks XV fixtures are not official Test matches, so appearances do not count toward a player’s All Blacks cap tally and are not recorded as full internationals. This is the single most important fact about the team. It allows selectors to expose players to an international-style environment without committing them, and it is why opponents are usually touring clubs, invitational sides such as the Barbarians, or developing nations rather than fellow tier-one Test teams.
Who picks the squad and when
Announcements are typically timed ahead of the end-of-year window, when the squad assembles for its tour or stand-alone matches. The All Blacks head coach and the wider NZR high-performance group stay closely involved, because the point of the exercise is to feed the senior side. A player who impresses for the All Blacks XV in November can realistically be in contention for the full All Blacks the following year.
The All Blacks XV match record and recent results
Since its 2022 re-launch the All Blacks XV has built a strong record against a mix of invitational, club and national opposition, winning the large majority of its games. According to the team’s published results, by the start of November 2025 it had played 28 matches for 25 wins, two losses and one draw – a win rate of roughly 89 per cent (Wikipedia). The table below sets out the verified fixtures of the modern era.
All Blacks XV Match Record
| Year | Opponent | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ireland A | Dublin | Won 47–19 |
| 2022 | Barbarians | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London | Lost 35–31 |
| 2023 | Japan XV | Tokyo | Won 38–6 |
| 2024 | Munster | Thomond Park, Limerick | Won 38–24 |
| 2024 | Georgia | GGL Stadium, Montpellier | Won 31–13 |
| 2025 | Barbarians | Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford | Won 33–19 |
2022: the re-launch tour
The modern All Blacks XV, coached by Leon MacDonald, opened its account in November 2022 with a 47–19 win over Ireland A in Dublin. It then closed the short European tour with a 35–31 loss to the Barbarians at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London – a result made notable because the Barbarians were coached by Scott Robertson, who would later take charge of the senior All Blacks. Both sides scored five tries, with the Barbarians’ goal-kicking the difference.
2023–2025: tours and milestones
In 2023 the All Blacks XV travelled to Japan and beat a Japan XV 38–6 in Tokyo, again under Leon MacDonald. In 2024, with Clayton McMillan now coaching, the team recorded two wins on its Northern tour: 38–24 against Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick, and 31–13 against Georgia at the GGL Stadium in Montpellier. In 2025, under new head coach Jamie Joseph and captain Dalton Papali’i, the side produced its most dramatic result yet, trailing the Barbarians 19–0 before scoring 26 unanswered second-half points to win 33–19 at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford.
Players who used the All Blacks XV as a springboard
The clearest measure of the team’s value is how many of its players go on to full All Blacks honours. Halfback Cortez Ratima and No. 8 Wallace Sititi are recent examples: both were part of the development pathway before breaking into the senior All Blacks in 2024, with Ratima having toured in the 2022 All Blacks XV group alongside established internationals. Their rise shows the intended pattern – a player gains exposure in the second team, returns to dominate Super Rugby, and is then promoted. For young professionals, an All Blacks XV call-up is widely read as a signal that selectors are watching closely.
The haka and team culture
Like other New Zealand representative sides, the All Blacks XV performs a haka before matches, and cultural identity is a genuine part of the environment rather than a marketing add-on. For many squad members, performing the haka in a black jersey for the first time is a significant personal milestone. New Zealand Rugby frames the second team as part of the same cultural standards as the senior side, emphasising custodianship of the jersey and the responsibility of representing the country. That said, the haka is a pre-match challenge and a cultural act – it has no bearing on the result, and the matches are won or lost on the field like any other game.
Common mistakes and misconceptions
The biggest misconception is that the All Blacks XV is the All Blacks. It is not – it is a separate, second-tier development team, and playing for it does not make someone a capped All Black. A related error is assuming its matches are Tests; they are classified as non-cap fixtures, which is exactly why the opponents are clubs, invitational teams and emerging nations.
People also confuse the side with the Māori All Blacks (chosen on ancestry, not development status) and with the New Zealand Under-20s (an age-grade team). Another frequent mistake is treating the squad as a fixed, named team: it is re-selected for each tour based on current form and injury situations, so comparing a “2024 squad” to a “2025 squad” is comparing two different selections, not a settled line-up. Finally, be wary of invented statistics and fictional scorelines that circulate online; the figures in this article come from the team’s published results and reputable rugby media, not from memory.
How to follow the All Blacks XV
Fixtures, squad announcements and official information are published by New Zealand Rugby through the All Blacks’ official channels, with matches usually staged in the end-of-year window. Because the schedule is light – often just one to three games a season – the best approach is to watch for squad naming news ahead of the Northern tour. Broadcast and ticketing details are confirmed by NZR and the relevant host venues or unions for each individual fixture rather than through a fixed season-long arrangement.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the All Blacks XV?
The All Blacks XV is New Zealand’s second national men’s rugby union team, run by New Zealand Rugby as a high-performance development side. It sits below the senior All Blacks and plays a small number of non-Test fixtures against touring clubs, invitational teams and emerging nations to prepare the next group of potential All Blacks.
Do All Blacks XV matches count as Test caps?
No. All Blacks XV games are not official Test matches, so they do not award full All Blacks caps and are not recorded as senior internationals. The non-cap status is deliberate: it lets selectors give players an international-level experience without permanently committing them.
Is the All Blacks XV the same as the Māori All Blacks?
No. The Māori All Blacks are selected on whakapapa (Māori ancestry), while the All Blacks XV is picked on form and development potential regardless of heritage. They are separate teams with different purposes, and a player can be eligible for one without being eligible for the other.
Who coaches and captains the All Blacks XV?
Coaching has rotated through the modern era: Leon MacDonald led the side in 2022 and 2023, Clayton McMillan in 2024, and Jamie Joseph took charge for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Dalton Papali’i captained the team for its 2025 match against the Barbarians. Both the coach and captain can change from one campaign to the next.
What is the All Blacks XV’s overall record?
By the start of November 2025 the modern All Blacks XV had played 28 matches, winning 25, losing two and drawing one – a win rate of roughly 89 per cent. Its two defeats include the 35–31 loss to the Scott Robertson-coached Barbarians in 2022, and it avenged that result with a 33–19 win over the Barbarians in 2025.