All Blacks recall for halfback Piri Weepu for tour (All Black Squad)

 LIAM NAPIER Article from Rugby Heaven

 TJ Perenara's loss is Piri Weepu's gain.

In an ironic twist, Weepu is the surprise inclusion in the All Blacks' 28-man squad to tour Argentina and South Africa - a selection that also includes Richie McCaw.

The veteran halfback has been extended a lifeline after Hurricanes halfback Perenara succumbed to a stress fracture in his leg. It will sideline him for at least six weeks.

The injury reverses the circumstances that elevated Perenara above his former Wellington mentor in the initial Rugby Championship squad. It is a cruel blow for the 21-year-old, who is yet to make his test debut and now faces a race against time to recover for the end of year tour.

"TJ has suffered a stress fracture in his lower left leg and is expected to be out of rugby for at least six weeks and therefore will miss the rest of the Rugby Championship," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said. "It's obviously a huge disappointment for him and us because, even though he hasn't had any game time yet for the All Blacks, he has been developing well within the squad."

Weepu was dropped after an average performance in the third test against France in New Plymouth in June. He was told to go away and improve his fitness and speed.

Hansen is satisfied the 30-year-old made those adjustments after turning out for the Auckland NPC side. His 71 tests of experience could be valuable in the absence of Dan Carter.

Counties Manukau and Chiefs halfback Augustine Pulu is understood to be next in line, but this trip was deemed too testing for a rookie. Pulu is also due to have surgery on his leg later in the year.

"We have selected Piri as a replacement for two reasons. One, given the environments we are going into, it would be unfair to bring in a novice halfback; and secondly, we have also seen advances in his game in the areas we asked him to improve in," Hansen said.

As expected, after a solid test debut in Wellington against Australia, Canterbury's Tom Taylor has been called in as cover for Carter, and McCaw's progress from a medial ligament knee injury suffered against Argentina will be monitored on tour.

"With Richie, we believe that the best chance of having him available to play against South Africa [in Johannesburg] is by having him travel with the squad and getting hands-on treatment from the All Blacks medical staff," Hansen added.

A decision on whether or not McCaw is available to play against South Africa will be made later in the week in Argentina. If he's not available, Canterbury's Matt Todd will join the squad in South Africa.

All Blacks squad: Forwards: Hookers: Dane Coles, Andrew Hore and Keven Mealamu. Props: Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Ben Franks, Owen Franks and Tony Woodcock. Locks: Brodie Retallick, Jeremy Thrush and Sam Whitelock. Loose forwards: Sam Cane, Steven Luatua, Richie McCaw, Liam Messam and Kieran Read. Backs: Halfbacks: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Aaron Smith and Piri Weepu. First five-eighths: Beauden Barrett, Aaron Cruden and Tom Taylor. Midfielders: Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith. Outside backs: Israel Dagg, Charles Piutau, Julian Savea and Ben Smith. 

So JW, I can see uncle McCow is expected to make his come back for the Ellis Park Thiller.  Guess what, Bizzy is in the mix for the Boks too.

After Saturday's match, a lot of Kiwis thought Habana took out Dagg on purpose, which would have been in like with the claim that Bizzy and Carter.  Is that thought still lingerring in the ABs' we minds? 

 Ntanga: lol mate. You guys are in so much trouble, the Black storm is coming!

Poor old Brizzy, he is going to be in for a long day. Hababa, did he even play at Eden Park??

pretty stupid to not take matt todd if they think McCaws not a chance to play, having him in argentina will lighten the load time.zone wise.
would much prefer they rest him so hes in tip top shape for the EOYT, given how easily read, cane and messam domintaed the Boks, we dont need king richie for eliis park, buuuuuuuuuut, i will add another 10 points onto the All Blacks win if he does end up playing, :oP

dont like the thought of weepu being back in the team either, IMO his presnece is similar to tom taylors, as long as smith and barlow are fit and ready, weepu wont play. as long as cruden and barret are fit and ready, taylor wont play.

they should have ust let him go, maybe encourage weepu to go get some well earned pingas overseas, he turned down that french contract earlier on in the year, might be time to send his agent back out to feel the love, his form in the ITm has been pretty good, but barlow and smith are the future, two best halfbacks in the RC/4nats right now, but its hard to gauge du preez in that reckoning, cos he only played once so far against an unusually woeful pumas team.

then again, both weepu and taylor could get starts against the pumas, would be a good time for them as the All Blacks wont want thier ioncumbents to leave everything out in argentina, the big ones still around the corner waiting in ellis park.

@mikey,

lolz, :oP

IMO the All blacks captain should always be leading the haka, All Blacks haka is more then justa maori thing, rgardless of its strong maori roots, its an All Black thing that unites us all pakehas, maoris and polys, united behind a team who the captain leads onto the field.

i was so stoked when McCaw led the haka in the bledisloe test in wellington, gave me more goosebumps then usual, o_O

Sasu you do have valid points about not taking Todd to Argentina, however I think not taking him is all to do with the game plan they will be trying to play in Argentina and they are confident they can do it without his cover!

I like Weepu and I am glad he is back - he stood up during the RWC when it really counted! I have this feeling that 2007 would have been alot different if he was playing instead of Leonard!

 Hey Cloudy ! I must say watching Izzy and Corey jane take on and defusing the highball from up close is amazing to watch ! The Boks are pretty good at it too but it mystifies me why the Aussies arent better at it .After all they have access to the AFL boys more so than the ABS .

Any of these skillful young men who can take the catch with the crowd roaring ,lights blazing ,attackers charging and oft times pizzing down with rain , well I take my hat off too them just for that alone .Thank goodness dumbarse forwards like me were'nt called upon to do this cos you know ,embarrassment !

@warhammer,

wassup wardaddy, :o)

i agree, the All Blacks outside backs are very solid under the highball, something about jane, dagg and smith being out back that is just very comforting.

i guess we can thank the Boks for that, back in 09 general du preez and morne bombarded our backs with highball after highball and out outside backs came of second best, this was the beginning of the end for fijian wonder twins rokocoko and sivivatu who eventually fell out of favour with the All Blacks as a result.

henry and then assistant coach shaggy then invested time in jane who had impressed against the wallys which began the jane 14 incumbent era which we all know is the bomb, IMo hes been the best 14 in the bizz for the last three years.

ive heard of league coaches in union, but i havent heard of AFL rules coaches until henry brought in mick byrnes.
it makes sense to have an AFL skills coach in ur coaching ranks, so why dont the aussies do this??? kicking and cacthing is basic AFL fundamentals, so it makes perfect sense.

IMO its just another of many reasons why NZ coaches are so far ahead of the rest of the coaching pack.

 Sasu I find it strange too - but I think it is a matter of pride that the Wallabies have not approached the AFL super coaches for help! The other thing is most of the AFL coaches are probably too advanced with plotting tactics and strategies to bother about teaching adult Wallaby players the basics of AFL! Tugiri was one Wallaby who was pretty good at going after attacking bombs!

Rumours has it that Laurie Daley was in the ABs camp recently to look at ABs structure - which he is planning to copy in order for the Blues to topple the Mighty Maroons next year!

@hakwa san,

pride comes before the fall, and the wallabies having never tasted No1 on the IRB rank have now fallen to 4th place.
pretty stupid really, a lot of sporting recoruces and ideas floating around the sporting mad nation of OZ, i remember a few years back the NZRU sent in some guys to have a chat with the AFL as they were really impressed with their grassroots programme, NZRU IMO wont close the door on anything which might help their product grow and that attitude is key for the continued success that only NZ have produced in rugby union.

i read about daly going to the All Blacks for a few ideas, he also had a good one on one with hansen about his player mangement,  think i posted an article related to it, o_O

i see a lot of similarties between the QLD maroons and the All Blacks, star players everywhere and a very strong professional and QLD cultrue.

its smart of daly to take a peek into what the All Blacks are doing, but one of the key things is also the players, NSW dont have a ingliss, slater, smith, cronk, thurston who are prob the best in the world in their positions and that has got to play a key role too.

cant see the maroons losing next year, i think they have two games at suncorp next year and the crowd factor is something the blues arent mentally strong enough to deal with either, plus the blues are smelly.

All Blacks teams i want to see play against the pumas and Boks

vs pumas
1 w crockett, 2 d coles, 3 c faumuina, 4 s luatua, 5 b retallick, 6 l messam, 7 s cane, 8 k read, 9 t kerr barlow, 10 a cruden, 11 j savea, 12 m nonu, 13 c smith, 14 b smith, 15 i dagg
16 a hore, 17 t woodcock, 18 o franks, 19 j thrush, 20 s whitelock, 21 p weepu, 22 b barret, 23 c piutau

vs Boks
1 t woodcock, 2 a hore, 3 o franks, 4 b retallick, 5 s whitelock, 6 l messam, 7 R McCaw, 8 k read, 9 a smith, 10 a cruden, 11 j savea, 12 m nonu, 13 c smith, 14 b smith, 15 i dagg
16 k mealamu, 17 b franks, 18 c faumuina, 19 s luatua, 20 s cane, 21 t kerr barlow, 22 b barret, 23 c piutau

the key thing is our top players are rested for the tough match in ellis park, my team to face the pumas is more then strong enough to get the job done.

i made most my changes in the forwards in order to give the engine room a rest and also to help the All Blacks backline get their cohesion sorted, as its been a little off in the RC/4nats.
in saying that, i hope the bench backliners gets a decent 20min run, but the starting team will need to ensure were in a position on the scoreboard to do that.

with the theme of resting top players, IMO whitelock and retallick should both only play 40 mins each, dont let them work themsleves to the bone which is what they do everytime they play in the black jersey.

would like for McCaw to be ready, but our boys are more then capable of getting the job done without him.