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Brodie Retallick headlines mass changes to All Blacks
The All Blacks have made thirteen changes to their starting line-up for their match against Fiji this weekend, and will introduce one new debutant off the bench.
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Halfback Aaron Smith will captain the All Blacks for the first time in his 98th Test at Forsyth Barr Stadium with his Highlanders teammate Ethan de Groot, named on the bench to make his debut.
In the starting front row, George Bower moves from his bench test debut last week to make his first test start at loosehead prop, alongside hooker Codie Taylor and tighthead Nepo Laulala, who will be playing his 30th test. Tyrel Lomax again provides prop cover, alongside de Groot, on the bench.
81-test lock Brodie Retallick makes his eagerly-awaited return to the All Blacks matchday 23, starting alongside Patrick Tuipulotu, with Samuel Whitelock moving to the bench.
In the loose forwards, Ethan Blackadder moves from the bench to make his first test start in the seven jersey, Shannon Frizell is at blindside flanker and Hoskins Sotutu is at eight. Luke Jacobson provides loose forward cover in the 20 jersey.
In the backs, Beauden Barrett will don the 10 jersey for his 90th test, while David Havili is back in black, picked at 12. It will be his first test start in his fourth test match. Rieko Ioane is at centre for his third start at 13. George Bridge retains his spot on the left wing, Sevu Reece is on the right and Jordie Barrett is at fullback in his 25th test. Providing back cover from the bench are Finlay Christie, Damian McKenzie and Will Jordan.
On Smith’s captaincy, All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster said: “Aaron is a special player with real mana and a natural leader and his preparation is second to none. I’m sure he, his wife Teagan and his wider whanau will be proud of what he has achieved.
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“We also want to congratulate Ethan on his selection. It’ll be a great occasion for him and his family and friends and we look forward to seeing him play.
PLAYER RATING: A remarkable performance given the context of the day that was in it for Gatland's Lions. #LionsRugby #SHAvBIL https://t.co/nlpUsQ4APN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 7, 2021
On this weekend’s test, Foster added: “The Fijian team will bring a very different challenge from Tonga. They are a more established side made up of primarily overseas-based players, who are amongst some of the better players in Europe.
“We can’t wait to play under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium. It should be a fast, physical match and our team are excited by what the weekend will bring.”
The 23-man squad is (test caps in brackets):
- George Bower (1)
- Codie Taylor (56)
- Nepo Laulala (29)
- Patrick Tuipulotu (37)
- Brodie Retallick (81)
- Shannon Frizell (13)
- Ethan Blackadder (1)
- Hoskins Sotutu (5)
- Aaron Smith (c) (97)
- Beauden Barrett (89)
- George Bridge (11)
- David Havili (3)
- Rieko Ioane (35)
- Sevu Reece (8)
- Jordie Barrett (24)
- Dane Coles (75)
- Ethan de Groot (new cap)
- Tyrel Lomax (7)
- Samuel Whitelock (123)
- Luke Jacobson (3)
- Finlay Christie (1)
- Damian McKenzie (28)
- Will Jordan (3)
– All Blacks
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Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments