The most spoken about centre in the world, and I’m not referring to Lionel Mapoe, will make his debut for the All Blacks this weekend against England. Graham Henry has made four changes to the team that lost to Australia in Hong Kong, Sonny Bill Williams being one of them.
The 25-year-old Williams was named at outside centre and will replace Conrad Smith, and joins Ma’a Nonu to form a heavy weight centre combination. Add to this their two wings in Hosea Gear and Joe Rokocoko, and you have four players in the backline who all weigh more than 100kg.
Other changes to the team are Hosea Gear who replaces the injured Cory Jane, and scrummie Alby Mathewson making his first test start in place of Jimmy Cowan. Sam Whitelock replaces Tom Donnelly in the only change in the forwards.
Teams:
England:
15. Ben Foden, 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Mike Tindall, 12. Shontayne Hape, 11. Mark Cueto, 10. Toby Flood, 9. Ben Youngs, 8. Nick Easter, 7. Lewis Moody (captain), 6. Tom Croft, 5. Tom Palmer, 4. Courtney Lawes, 3. Dan Cole, 2. Steve Thompson, 1. Andrew Sheridan
Replacements: 16. Dylan Hartley, 17. David Wilson, 18. Dave Attwood, 19. Hendrie Fourie, 20. Danny Care, 21. Charlie Hodgson, 22. Delon Armitage
New Zealand:
15. Mils Muliaina, 14. Joe Rokocoko, 13. Sonny Bill Williams, 12. Ma’a Nonu, 11. Hosea Gear, 10. Daniel Carter, 9. Alby Mathewson; 8. Kieran Read, 7. Richie McCaw (captain), 6. Jerome Kaino, 5. Sam Whitelock, 4. Brad Thorn, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Keven Mealamu, 1. Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16. Hika Elliot, 17. Ben Franks, 18. Anthony Boric, 19. Liam Messam, 20. Andy Ellis, 21. Stephen Donald, 22. Isaia Toeava
Tweet
Woopdeedoo
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 1) :
Are you not excited about this?
Wouldnt you love an english centre to tackle him out of the game in the first 5 minutes.. How fantastic will that be?!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 2) : I dont think the english centres have it in them, hoping he gets smashed by a flank
I haven’t even seen him play yet! The kiwi’s are going on as if he’s the second coming. Conrad Smith must be pissed off with all this going on!
The great white hype dawns upon us…Let’s see if he is worth the song and dance – the English centres won’t be the toughest test though.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 3) : That said I dont think the English flanks have it in them as well
@Big Fish (Comment 5) :
The biggest test for this oke will be to see if he can handle being tackled out of his boots by Vermeulen, Alberts or even Bakkies.
Send Dries. He will tackle the SNOT out of him…..
@SharksRTB (Comment 8) :
Cant wait for the Cheetahs v Canterbury game next year..
Dries will smoke him!!
Ha-ha England are in for a hiding and its not because of SWB.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 9) : Behold the mighty Dries 😡 ……. On the flip side, I can wait a long time for the Cheeters v Sharks game. 😳
I still rate Nonu and Smith as one of the best centre pairs in the world. Not sure how SBW will gel with Nonu. Lets wait and see. So ya, I am interested to see I guess.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 7) :
I reckon TGHMGA can take him!!
@wpw (Comment 13) :
The who?
Sonny Bill Who?? Such a fuss and I’ve never even seen him play! Let’s see what he’s got?
Eng by 5.
God save the Queen.
@Richard Ferguson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlight 😈 ing (Comment 14) :
The
Great
Hard
Man
Gio
Aplon
@wpw (Comment 17) :
😆
Eng centres aren’t exactly lightweights. Both probably at least 100kg.
@wpw (Comment 17) :
I would love to see him take Sonny Bill down.. can make a name for himself!!
@McLovin (Comment 19) :
One of them a kiwi if Im not mistaken ..should make for a good match up then ..something to prove.
@McLovin (Comment 19) : @Richard Ferguson (Comment 20) :
Would have loved to see brad make his debut in this match.
I’m sure he wouldve made ‘little Sonny’ his biaaatch!! 😈
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 21) :
12. Shontayne Hape
He is also a rugby league convert..
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 21) : Hope so. 🙂
@wpw (Comment 22) :
it is a shame we wont see Brad face up against the All Balcks or the Boks.. Brad isn’t a small oke either, would be an interesting match up!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 23) :
Cheers , anyone catch the news of the Aussie league player involving peanut butter and a dog … 😯
@wpw (Comment 22) :
Full name Shontayne Hape
Date of birth January 30, 1982 (1982-01-30) (age 28)
Place of birth Auckland , New Zealand
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 16 st 5 lb (104 kg)
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 23) : So is Chris Ashton I think.
Full name Michael James Tindall
Date of birth 18 October 1978 (1978-10-18) (age 32)
Place of birth Otley, Leeds, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.87 m)
Weight 16 st
@McLovin (Comment 19) :
Those are the two English centres..
With a name like ‘Shontayne’ I suspect his parents maybe wanted a girl. 😈
@McLovin (Comment 32) :
I was about to say.. his parents really didn’t like him/her
Sonny playing for the Baa-baas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc-w6GW9EfE
And some more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAMYDNoe0S0&feature=related
@McLovin (Comment 32) :
hahahaha 😆
And here’s his 2nd boxing opponent. 😆 😆
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q4wCcDxfWc
@McLovin (Comment 35) :
Mortlock had him for breakfast there.. jeez that was a good tackle!!
@McLovin (Comment 34) : Still manages to offload the ball while getting dumped on his ass.
@McLovin (Comment 37) :
Wasn’t the best opponent ever that..
Would love to see him in one of those no limit cage fights that they been having..
Amazed that Donald is on the bench, he really did blow that game for the All Blacks and did us no favours because those Aussies are starting to build momentum big time their timing could be perfect for next years World Cup
@lostfish (Comment 39) : Some call it an offload I call it throwing the ball away in a blind panic. 😈
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 40) : Looks like Mike Schutte little brother.
Sonny wont last very long in a cage fight imo. Those okes don’t mess about.
@Whindy (Comment 41) :
Poor guy has been crucified back in NZ ..just doesn’t carry his ITM/Super form through to International.
I am glad Aus beat them though or else they would break Lituania’s World record .. 😮
@McLovin (Comment 43) :
Sonny wont go a round in cage fighting, and will be without a nose and less about 1liter blood.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 44) : IRB should do something about those records. Too many ridiculous records held by mickey mouse players/teams.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 44) : Agreed I went ballistic when Aus scored, can’t have the Kiwis having those sort of bragging rights!! No offence HH!!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 40) :
I’d love to see him take on Derrick Kuun in a cage fight!!
Or better yet, how about Earl Rose!! 😯 😆
@wpw (Comment 48) :
I have one use for SBW and his big right arm.. TO hit Kuun in the Balls!!
@McLovin (Comment 46) : It truly is a bit of a farce. At the moment Lithuania are ranked 39th in the world. Most of the teams they have beaten are ranked in the 70’s and 80’s. The only team they beat that was ranked higher was the Netherlands at 36. These rankings are the latest rankings but I doubt they would have changed too much. I don’t have the time nor the inclincation to check the historical records.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 44) : He has been known to crack under pressure in the past. His ITM form came at the end of the season when he played against the bottom ranked teams without too much pressure.
AB’s should have picked Slade to deputise under Carter and left Donald at home.
@McLovin (Comment 29) :
Yep..Chris Ashton is ex Wigan rugby league player. Scored loads of tries in league and has carried his finishing form into Union with Northampton. Decent pace too.
I still see NZ having too much class for the Poms and should win by around 8-9 points!