BACK IN BLACK: King Country’s Josh Lord has been selected in the All Blacks for the upcoming Rugby Championship, He is pictured here playing for Taumarunui Districts earlier this season. PHOTO BRIANNA STEWART
King Country’s Josh Lord is back in black.
No, not the black of the Chiefs or the All Blacks XV, it’s the black of the actual All Blacks as the dynamic lock was named as one of 36 players in Ian Foster’s first All Black squad to prepare for the 2023 Rugby Championship campaign.
Lord missed most of 2022 with a knee injury, meaning he wasn’t able to don the black jumper, however, after returning against the Fijian Drua midway through Super Rugby Pacific, Lord has shown enough to earn a spot as one of five locks in the squad.
He is picked alongside Chiefs’ teammates Tupou Vaa’i and Brodie Retallick, while Crusaders’ duo Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett are the other two locks in the squad.
Lord is only 22 years old and has played two tests for the All Blacks but looks certain to play plenty more in the coming seasons with Retallick and Whitelock leaving New Zealand shores at the completion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
An incredibly mobile and robust player for his size, and with a strong work ethic, Lord could well get a chance early in the Rugby Championship to show his ability.
Earlier this season, Lord, who is from a farm south of Taumarunui where his dad, Matt Lord, a former Northampton Saints player, farms, turned out for Taumarunui Districts in a match against Bush United on his comeback from injury.
It was something he had wanted to do for a couple of years, but it hadn’t aligned. However, with Lord on his way back to full fitness and various teams obliging he was able to tick off a childhood dream and play for Districts, a goal he wanted to do while his dad was coaching.
Back then, Lord’s focus was playing as well as he could and the All Black jumper, if it came his way, would be a bonus.
“It’s in the back of my mind. I just want to focus on doing the main things well and if it happens it happens. If it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world,” Lord said when asked about making the All Blacks back in April.
Currently, he’s in cap with the Chiefs as they prepare for this weekend’s Super Rugby final against perennial champions the Crusaders at FMG Stadium in Hamilton.
A final victory will be a fitting way to cap off what’s been a great couple of months for Lord.
Hopefully, rugby fans will be able to see Lord in action against Argentina, South Africa or Australia during the Rugby Championship.
