Savea, Smith and Retallick to debut against Ireland
Youthful team to take the field on Saturday.
The All Blacks team to play Ireland at Eden Park this Saturday includes three new caps: The Chiefs' Brodie Retallick (lock), The Hurricanes' Julian Savea (left wing) and Highlander Aaron Smith (half back).
Steven Hansen's first squad as head coach includes only seven players from the team that beat France 8-7 in its starting line up (Owen Franks, Tony Woodcock, Richie McCaw, Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read, Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg).
The full team (with test caps in brackets. * denotes a new cap):
Starting XV:
1. Tony Woodcock (83)
2. Andrew Hore (62)
3. Owen Franks (31)
4. Brodie Retallick *
5. Samuel Whitelock (25)
6. Victor Vito (13)
7. Richie McCaw - captain (103)
8. Kieran Read (36)
9. Aaron Smith *
10. Daniel Carter (85)
11. Julian Savea *
12. Sonny Bill Williams (14)
13. Conrad Smith (55)
14. Zac Guildford (8)
15. Israel Dagg (12)
Reserves:
16. Hikawera Elliot (2)
17. Ben Franks (15)
18. Ali Williams (73)
19. Adam Thomson (24)
20. Piri Weepu (56)
21. Aaron Cruden (9)
22. Ben Smith (2)
When he takes the field on Saturday, The Chiefs' Brodie Retallick will become the second youngest lock in All Blacks history, just two days older than lock Mark Cooksley who was 21 years seven days old when he made his All Blacks debut in 1992.
Daniel Carter will set another record in his stellar career this weekend, becoming the most capped All Blacksfirst five-eighth in history. He will play his 71st Test (of his 86 Tests overall) in the number ten position on Saturday, with all his other Test appearances coming in other backline spots.
NBR staff
Thu, 07 Jun 2012
Thu, 07 Jun 2012
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Savea, Smith and Retallick to debut against Ireland
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