Dan Carter has been confirmed at flyhalf in the New Zealand team to face Australia in their Bledisloe Cup/Tri-Nations double header in Sydney on Saturday.
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Carter returns to the starting XV in his 60th Test, with Luke McAlister getting his second Test start of the year outside Carter at inside centre, in his 28th Test.
The inclusion of Carter and McAlister sees Stephen Donald and Ma’a Nonu move to the replacement bench.
Carter, who will be playing his 14th Test against Australia, has scored 153 points against the trans-Tasman foes and is third on the All Blacks list behind Andrew Mehrtens (202) and Grant Fox (159).
In the forwards, Kieran Read gets his fifth Test start in his 10th Test, picked at No.8, with Rodney So’oialo on the bench.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry admitted that his team has their backs to the wall, following their series whitewash against the Springboks in South Africa – which left New Zealand with one win in three starts in the Tri-Nations.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than this,” Henry said.
“The Bledisloe Cup is on the line and it’s really a win or lose match in the Tri-Nations, so that makes it an exciting challenge for us.”
Meanwhile, All Black fullback Mils Muliaina reaches a special milestone this weekend, playing in his 75th Test, while Richie McCaw will again captain the All Blacks for the 36th time in his 74th Test.
It’s also a milestone Test for the All Blacks coaching trio of Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen – with the coaches taking charge of their 70th All Blacks Test, in what has been a hugely successful coaching career.
The trio have coached the All Blacks to 58 victories in 69 Tests, for a winning record of 84 percent.
The All Blacks have also retained the Bledisloe Cup since 2003, won the Tri-Nations every year since 2005 and achieved a 3-0 Test sweep of the British and Irish Lions in 2005.
The All Blacks were named IRB Team of the Year and Graham Henry Coach of the Year in 2005, 2006 and again in 2008, with Henry awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Trophy in 2008, the highest distinction awarded by the International Committee for Fair Play (ICPF).
The All Blacks were also finalist for team of the year for their 2006-2007 season at the 2007 Laureus Sports Awards alongside FC Barcelona (soccer), the European Ryder Cup team (golf), Italy (soccer), Renault (F1) and the Spanish basketball team.
The All Blacks have played Australia 133 times since 1903 with 89 wins to the All Blacks, 39 to Australia and five draws.
The All Blacks won the last Test 22-16 in last month’s Tri-Nations competition opener in Auckland and also won the last Test in Australia, the 28-24 win in Brisbane during last year’s Tri-Nations.
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Josevata Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Rodney So’oialo,
20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Ma’a Nonu.
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Great to see Carter back….but let’s hope the Aussies take this one.
@Pokkel (Comment 1) :
I agree.
If the Aussies win they will be overconfident and just right for the picking when we play them next week. 😎
I’m afraid with Nonu relegated to the bench and Carter back the team is looking 200 times better, Aussies are going to lose this one.
No Mortlock is a biiiiig loss.
@wpw (Comment 2) : You also don’t want the AB’s to get an away win since they have already got a home win and I feel more confident beating the Aussies in Australie than the AB’s in NZ
We’re gonna smash ’em. All of them. 😈
dan the man is back& hhmm, let’s see if he will make any impact. Mcalister @ 12 can be lethal on attack but i rate Barnes to unlock him on defence. The last time he played against aus (before he went to europe) mortlock made him his bunny!
@McLovin (Comment 5) : Fighting talk I see….We can smash them so long as they don’t figure out a way to counter our gameplan because I don’t think the Boks can adjust their gameplan halfway through a match…not enough braincells in the team 😉
58 victories in 69 Tests 😯
Impressive.
The Aussie backline must be the smallest backline ever for Australie. I bet O,Conner at 15 will receive one or two high balls from Carter and McAlister
‘Richie McCaw will again captain the All Blacks for the 36th time in his 74th Test’ I would have thought that should have been more. Who captained the AB’s before McCaw?? I can’t remember 😳
@Pokkel (Comment 7) : 1st test will be vital imo.
@Pokkel (Comment 10) : Reuben Thorne???
@Pokkel (Comment 7) :
What do you mean??
John, along with the senior players are doing a great job coaching the side. 😕
@Pokkel (Comment 10) : Fitzpatrick?? 😳
@Pokkel (Comment 10) : ok wait, I think I have it now… Tana Umaga
@molly (Comment 14) : Don’t think it was Fitzpatrick…to long ago.
@molly (Comment 15) : I think you are right probably Tana
@quota (Comment 6) : wasnt that the same year butch made mortlock his bitch
And before Tana there was Anton Olivier and Taine Randall… also Todd Blackadder 😕
@wpw (Comment 13) : hehehe..I don’t think there are many teams in the world that can easily change a gameplan halfway through a game successfully….I really hope that we don’t get caught napping due to our one dimensional gameplan and hope we at least try a couple of different moves during the overseas trip…even if we only start the new moves once we have wrapped up the tri nations
@wpw (Comment 19) : Just ask the experts 😉
@Pokkel (Comment 20) :
Like the two tries we scored against the Lions (JPP and Habana)
Those were AWESOME moves!!!
@wpw (Comment 13) : You seem to forget that I did concede defeat with that issue
@wpw (Comment 22) : and so simple. I always maintained that the most effective gap are right on the shoulder of the player
@quota (Comment 6) :
Thats when they played McAllister at 13 – he is crap there, but very good at 12. Much better than Nonu, who is up there with JP Nel in domkrag.
@Big Fish (Comment 25) :
Jp Nel = more ‘dom’ than krag!! 😆
@Big Fish (Comment 25) : i know, i can still remember the try vividly, he jumped out of the defence line & mortlock just stepped a little to the right & whoosh went luke past & mortlock sped off catching the defence unawares.
But i also rate him @ 12.
Dan and Luke return for All Blacks
Phew… I thought Luke Watson had made a switch!
Panic from the AB’s – Dans not ready just yet.
@Worcestershire Sauce (Comment 29) : I’d rather have an undercooked Dan than regular Donald anyday 🙄
@Pokkel (Comment 30) : I disagree, bring him off the bench. He has played 160 minutes of rugby in 9 months – now you want him to play a test against the top 3…..
Too much too soon.
Its also a little harsh on Donald – considering he oversaw a comeback win against the Convicts in the first game of the series and he missed i think two kicks against us, its hard to blame a flyhalf when his pack is getting smashed off the ground and everyone round him goes headless including his coaches who thought running in 80 metere tries was they way to beat us.
@Pokkel (Comment 30) :
Donald didn’t do himself any justice on his trip to RSA… he’s definitely not as bad as he looked…
@wpw (Comment 26) : 😆 😆 😆
@Worcestershire Sauce (Comment 31) : @blackshark (Comment 32) : It’s not that I think Donald is that bad…I just think Carter is that much better.
@Charlie (Comment 33) : Hello Charlie, how you doing?? Has Adi also got an appointment with Rassie?? Seems they really looking for centres 😉
@Pokkel (Comment 34) : Of that there is no doubt – but even he is going to struggle and be sure the Aussies are going to nail him
Bath Rugby have announced scrum half Michael Claassens as captain for the 2009-10 season.
any player who would’ve been chosen by GH – even nick evans – would’ve been crucified by the carter-crazed media & fans. There’s nothing donald could’ve done when the all black forwards were getting pressured into conceeding penalties in their own half.
It’s just ridiculous how they’re slating donald, i saw a rugby magazine cover on the re
@Worcestershire Sauce (Comment 36) : I hope the Aussies nail him, we need the Wobblies to win on Saturday 😆
@quota (Comment 38) : I think most people on this site will agree with you that Frans Steyn is NOT a flyhalf.
So how about those cheating poms at Quins, faking blood injury what not.
@McLovin (Comment 41) :
Its just not cricket old chap.
@McLovin (Comment 41) : i saw that! “blood capsules” all to get nick evans back on the field! bloody cheats lmao!
Tell you what’s not cricket, it’s the bloody IRB and the armband decision. It’s been more than a week. 🙄
@quota (Comment 43) : Was badly done too. I saw it live and thought to myself: ‘Self, something funny’s going on here’.
Some news from the Women’s Nations Cup:
The Women’s Eagles dominated their match with South Africa throughout and scored six tries to run out 39-0 winners.
@McLovin (Comment 46) : Four yellow cards for the lady boks in that match. 😯
@McLovin (Comment 47) : I’d like to know what the yellow cards were for?
And speaking of Fransie Steyn, looks like someone finally sorted out his hair for the SASI cover.
Looks a lot better.
@Pokkel (Comment 48) : So would I. The report on SARugby site only mentions ‘various acts of foul play’. Could be anything. 😕