1
All Blacks welcome back departing veterans for Wales third-and-fourth play-off clash
By Alex McLeod
The All Blacks have overhauled their side from the team that was defeated 19-7 by England in the World Cup semi-final, making a total of eight changes to their starting side for their third-and-fourth play-off with Wales in Tokyo on Friday.
Outgoing All Blacks stars Kieran Read, Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty and Ben Smith have all be given the chance to sign off their test careers on a positive note, with the latter three having missed the England clash in Yokohama last week.
They replace Anton Lienert-Brown, who has been demoted to the bench, Jack Goodhue and Sevu Reece.
Wing George Bridge has also failed to make the cut, as Rieko Ioane returns to the side for the first time since the All Blacks' 71-9 thrashing on Namibia in pool play earlier this month.
Continue reading below...
In the forwards, Dane Coles replaces Codie Taylor, who is omitted from the match day squad entirely as Liam Coltman takes his place in the reserves.
The same can be said of Sam Whitelock and Ardie Savea, both of whom aren't on the team sheet, effectively ending their seasons for 2019.
Replacing them in the starting XV is Shannon Frizell and Sam Cane, with Scott Barrett shifting back to lock to accomodate for the two flankers.
On the bench, Matt Todd returns from injury to join Coltman, Lienert-Brown, Atu Moli and Bred Weber as the new faces on the bench.
Moli's and Weber's inclusions also means the season has come to a close for Ofa Tu'ungafasi and TJ Perenara, who both started from the bench in last week's loss.
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen said: "This was a tough team to select because, as always, everyone wanted to play. But with a short turnaround and the nature of the tournament, we feel that this is the right team for this occasion.
"There's been a lot of external talk around this being the game that no one wants to play. However, from our point of view, we can't wait to play it.
"Everyone in the squad - players and management - are motivated by the opportunity to show that our last performance wasn't at the high standard that we know we can play at.
"This is a test match against an opposition that will also be keen to make a statement. Therefore, we will need to turn up with real attitude, intent and work ethic, and then execute our skill sets to the highest level possible.
"The game will be physical and fast as both teams will look to play to their strengths. We are looking forward to it and can't wait.
"Whilst none of us - players, management or fans - got the result we wanted at this tournament, this is another opportunity for us to wear the jersey and represent our country with pride.
"On behalf of the All Blacks, we'd like to thank our fans for all their ongoing, unconditional support. It's something that we never take for granted and is greatly appreciated by us all within the team."
All Blacks team to face Wales in Tokyo on Friday:
1. Joe Moody (44)
2. Dane Coles (68)
3. Nepo Laulala (24)
4. Brodie Retallick (80)
5. Scott Barrett (35)
6. Shannon Frizell (8)
7. Sam Cane (67)
8. Kieran Read - captain (126)
9. Aaron Smith (91)
10. Richie Mo'unga (16)
11. Rieko Ioane (28)
12. Sonny Bill Williams (56)
13. Ryan Crotty (47)
14. Ben Smith (83)
15. Beauden Barrett (82)
Reserves:
16. Liam Coltman (7)
17. Atu Moli (7)
18. Angus Ta'avao (13)
19. Patrick Tuipulotu (29)
20. Matt Todd (24)
21. Brad Weber (4)
22. Anton Lienert-Brown (41)
23. Jordie Barrett (16)
In other news:
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Wallaroos captain reflects on Black Ferns’ success with sevens stars
3
Springboks flyhalf's latest injury worry
4
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
5
Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
Go to comments