Three All Blacks return home from Australia

Three players have been released by the All Blacks to return home from Australia and leave the Tri Nations tournament early, the All Blacks have confirmed.

Prop Ofa Tuungafasi, who was suspended for three matches after the Brisbane Test, together with loose forward Du'Plessis Kirifi and midfielder Peter Umaga-Jensen, who both joined the All Blacks squad as replacement players, will return home today.

All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster said: "Because of the unique challenges of the tournament, with a number of Test matches over consecutive weeks and the ever-changing world of Covid-19 quarantining, we brought a bigger squad than normal to Australia. But we had always intended to send a few players back at this stage of the tournament, based on whether or not we had injuries.

"The advantage for the three players heading home is that they will get an extra two weeks of pre-season training and return to their Super Rugby clubs early. It also means we aren't compromising our own preparation in the build-up for what will be a very important final Test of the year for us."

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