The All Blacks and Wallabies will face off at 1 p.m. ET Sept. 20 at Sky Stadium to kick off their 2020 seasons. The NZ All Blacks struggled last year, ending up 7-9. On the other hand,

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Another viable option would have been to shift Jordie Barrett to fullback and restore Sevu Reece to 14, with the Crusaders wing another unlucky one to miss the 23.

But McKenzie, who missed the Rugby World Cup with injury and didn’t play a test last year, had the side’s backing. “He [Barrett] could have played at a push but there’s a fair bit of rugby ahead and I’ve got full confidence in Damian stepping up,” said new captain Sam Cane.

McKenzie, 25, has 23 tests to his name and scored 12 tries.

Beaudy’s achilles flared up a little bit at training yesterday [Friday] afternoon. It settled down overnight, not too bad and he’s kicking out there now, but we made a decision, first test, to pull him out early.

“It certainly looks like that [a one-game injury]. He’s kicking now and running around but we just felt the way it tightened up and impacted on him yesterday, we didn’t want to take that chance tomorrow.”

Foster raised some eyebrows on Friday by naming Jordie Barrett on the right wing in the same breath as labelling him “the form fullback” in the country after a memorable Super Rugby campaign for the Hurricanes.

The team were told the matchday 23 back on Tuesday and trained that way all week, hence the decision to keep the younger Barrett at 14. McKenzie also fills the dual playmaker role as Richie Mo’unga’s backup, although Foster said on Friday that first five-eighth remained a work in progress for McKenzie and Jordie Barrett.