Dangerous/Remember The Time: All Blacks starting lineup for Bledisloe II, Mitre 10 Cup round 2 & Belgian Grand Prix preview

Well, the All Blacks have named their team to take on the Wallabies in for both round 2 of the Rugby Championship & the 2nd Bledisloe Cup test at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin so here is the starting lineup:

FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Joe Moody (Canterbury/Crusaders)
2 (Hooker): Dane Coles (Wellington/Hurricanes)
3 (Tight head prop): Nepo Laulala (Counties Manukau/Chiefs)

SECOND ROW
4 (Lock): Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay/Chiefs)
5 (Lock): Sam Whitelock (Canterbury/Crusaders)

BACK ROW
6 (Blindside Flanker): Liam Squire (Tasman/Highlanders)
7 (Openside Flanker): Sam Cane (Bay Of Plenty/Chiefs)
8 (Number 8): Kieran Read (Captain, Counties Manukau/Crusaders)

HALVES
9 (Half-back): Aaron Smith (Manawatu/Highlanders)
10 (First five eighth): Beauden Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes)

MIDFIELD
12 (Second five eighth): Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau/Blues)
13 (Centre): Ryan Crotty (Canterbury/Crusaders)

OUTSIDE BACKS
11 (Left Wing): Rieko Ioane (Auckland/Blues)
14 (Right Wing): Ben Smith (Otago/Highlanders)
& 15 (Fullback): Damian McKenzie (Waikato/Chiefs)

And in the reserves are:

16. Codie Taylor
17. Kane Hames (Who replaces Wyatt Crockett who has been ruled out due to concussion)
18. Ofa Tu'ungafasi
19. Scott Barrett (Who had won his place ahead of Luke Romano)
20. Ardie Savea
21. TJ Perenara
22. Lima Sopoaga
& 23. Anton Lienert-Brown.

And round 2 of the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup is about to start so here is the list of games being played:

Southland Vs North Harbour: Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill
Bay Of Plenty Vs Hawke's Bay: Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
Waikato Vs Counties Manukau: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Wellington Vs Taranaki: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Auckland Vs Northland: Eden Park, Auckland
Manawatu Vs Tasman: Central Energy Trust Arena, Palmerston North
Canterbury (Ranfurly Shield) Vs Otago: AMI Stadium, Christchurch

And finally the Formula 1 circus heads to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium for the Belgian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) trails by 14 points ahead of his nearest rival Sebastian Vettel (Germany) in the Ferrari after 11 action packed rounds but the grand prix itself is the home race of McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) so here is the circuit guide which will host round 12 of of the 2017 FIA Formula 1 World Championship:

''Shortened & brought up to the required safety standards in 1983, Spa-Francorchamps mantains the challenge & character of the 9-mile (14.5km) original from nearly 60 years before. A magnificent combination of purpose-built race track & public roads in the Belgian Ardennes. Spa remains a favourite with drivers & spectators alike.''

So that is my 137th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 57th this year.