Well, the All Blacks have named their team against the confident Wallabies side (Who are hungry for a win in order to avoid an 0 & 3 against the AB's for the 2nd year running) in the 3rd & final Bledisloe Cup test in Yokohama, Japan so here is the starting lineup in it's entirety:
FRONT ROW
1 (Loose head prop): Joe Moody (Canterbury/Crusaders)
2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Canterbury/Crusaders)
3 (Tight head prop): Owen Franks (Canterbury/Crusaders)
SECOND ROW
4 (Lock): Sam Whitelock (Canterbury/Crusaders)
5 (Lock): Scott Barrett (Taranaki/Crusaders)
BACK ROW
6 (Blindside Flanker): Liam Squire (Tasman/Highlanders)
7 (Openside Flanker): Ardie Savea (Wellington/Hurricanes)
8 (Number 8): Kieran Read (Captain, Canterbury/Crusaders)
HALVES
9 (Half-back): TJ Perenara (Wellington/Hurricanes)
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. Nathan Harris
17. Karl Tu'inukuafe (Who is dropped to the bench with the injury prone Joe Moody successfully coming back from a thumb injury to start at loose head prop)
18. Nepo Laulala (Who successfully returns from a broken arm to replace Ofa Tu'ungafasi)
19. Brodie Retallick (Who replaces Patrick Tuipulotu after successfully recovering from a shoulder injury)
20. Matt Todd (Who is back with the All Blacks (Including a stint with the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan) after being named on the bench, replacing Ardie Savea (Who is elevated to the starting lineup to replace Sam Cane who is ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a serious neck injury)
21. Aaron Smith (Who is dropped to the bench with TJ Perenara returning to the starting lineup)
22. Richie Mo'unga
& 23. Anton Lienert-Brown.
So that is my 242nd blog of the year 2018 (MMXVIII) & my 62nd of this year.
I found your blog, Whetu. Excellent stuff. See you for brunch today.
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