All Blacks team for bledisloe cup,,,

All Blacks (with Test caps in brackets)


1. Tony Woodcock (86)
2. Keven Mealamu (93)
3. Owen Franks (34)
4. Luke Romano (1)
5. Samuel Whitelock (28)
6. Liam Messam (10)
7. Richie McCaw - captain (106)
8. Kieran Read (38)
9. Aaron Smith (3)
10. Daniel Carter (87)
11. Hosea Gear (9)
12. Sonny Bill Williams (17)
13. Ma’a Nonu (66)
14. Cory Jane (31)
15. Israel Dagg (15)

Reserves:

16. Andrew Hore (65)
17. Ben Franks (18)
18. Brodie Retallick (3)
19. Victor Vito (14)
20. Piri Weepu (59)
21. Aaron Cruden (11)
22. Ben Smith (5)

sweeeeet as. bang on team i and most of us called, except i thought retallick would start over romano and still think he should have.

given the ball carriers within the wallabies squad, i would have loved to have seen sam cane on the bench too, but vitos bench appearance makes a lot of sense it gives the ABs more attacking and defending options. major big ups for starting messam though hansen, if his form is half as good as it has been so far this year, we could be looking at sydneys man of the match.

great to see gear start over savea, experience won out on the day and thats a money in the bank like selection, but gear will have his work cut out for him going up against aussies mr reliable in AAC.
savea will get his chance against the pumas.

the nonu/SBW midfield pairing makes way too much sense, SBW form 12 for the comp and nonu has been the form 12 for the ABs the last few years and needs some gametime in the midfield at ABs level for 2012, so that when his former hurricanes partner in crime conrad returns and SBW goes east, our combos will be up to date with hansens ins and outs and all would have a few games under their belt, absolutely brilliant.
nonu and SBW are going to carve up faainga and horne, but faaingas selection is the best to counter our titanic centers.
 

All Blacks by 17pts.

GO ALL BLACKS!!!

As usual the AB's look strong and if you ask me they have bulked up with Romano and Messam amd Nonu and SBW all in the squad as well as experienced up by bringing back Jane Mealamu.

I think the problem for OZ is that they will spend all their backline efforts focusing on shutting down SBW and Nonu, hence Fainga's and Hornes selection

However I dont think they will win by 17 - I think that OZ have a chance of snatching this one as I think the AB's history in Sydney is not the best against the Wallabies......but if they do win then Im thinking between 1-3 point gap only.

Sasu

A very strong team and they should by all accounts beat the Aussies - whose rather poor performances in Super 15 shows that there are real problems in Wallaby rugby.   I think that you make one mistake in your comments and that relates to Retallick.   I do not rate him as highly as you do - and I think the AB selectors do the same.   

Where I am a bit disappointed is their bench selection.  Why are they stuck on Weepu - other than perhaps that he looks good in performance of the Haka.   Hore is a very good player - but I believe that he is getting very near to his "sell-by" date.   It would be in th interest of All Black rugby to start developing a hooker for the future, because Hore is not a good medium-term - leave alone long-term -  investment.   

I think you are probably correct inyour scoreline as a win by the All Blacks.

Not enough Chiefs in the team if you wanna ask Brycy . Especially in the forwards with the likes of Clark and Cane unlucky to miss out although they are still in the extended AB training squad.

Trouble is Hansen has so many options he's spoiled for choice.

The Tawera Kerr Barlow / Cruden  / SBW combo would have payed better dividends IMO as they have already proven successful with the Almighty Chiefs.

That said, those selected should easily do the damage but Wepu will definitely be under the microscope and dunno if he would've been there had'nt Perenaras been injured.

All the players know that they need step up or face being replaced which should provide the added motivation to perform well.

No brycy I dont want to ask you except if I am short of a good laugh! Hahahahahaha

Lets be honest here oaks this side looks a bit over the hill to me. Woodcock and Mealamu! Hahahahhaha they are not the players they once were. Then the two locks are not much to shout about and ou McCheat is also showing signs of wear.  Meyer pick the right pack and you should have little problems achieving forward dominance.

Another player who looks to be going off the boil is Nonu. He will be hoping sbw will be facing Frans Steyn of course. I can almost hear them arguing about this and wetting themselves at the prospect!

Andrew Hore and weepoooo are also over the hill. We could talk about Aaron Smith, the pretty average Carol Jane etc but I dont want to discourage our NZ friends too much!!!

On our side its a great pity we have all these injuries. JP will be missed for sure. Wonder if Vermuelen can get back to form in time to face abs.  Coenie and Schalk will not be involved in this campaign.

Meyer please pick the right pack and we could surprise the doubters and beat the world chumps - refs allowing a fair contest etc - we all know what the down under refs are like!

@radtad1,

ABs have won 3 of their last 5 bledisloe matches in sydney, so the records not too bad. my 17 point win prediction is based on the wallabies looking to play a more comservative game going by their teams selection. if the game was playd in brisbane, i would be a little nervous, but im expecting a win and even a 1pt win would have me jumping for joy.

@clevermike,

TBH bro i rate the wallabies a bigger threat the the Boks, even with the latest unimpressive mob that deans selected.
spXV is not an accurate measuring stick for the wallabies, for the aussie rugby talent and zimbabwaean, kiwi and papua new guinean talent for that matter are spread across 5 clubs, which IMO is one club too many.
once the creme of the crop gather though, they become a very formidable force, especially when their best players are all lining up, beale, AAC, digby, genia, higginbotham, pocock, polotunau are all superstars and the rest of their team are very capable, they are very unlucky to be missing the services of horwil and oconner aka bieber, but All Blacks are also sufferin injuries, but our backups leave us a bit more comfortable.

i do think u will change ur mid with retallicks game and his bench selection has left many of us shocked in NZ, but IMO its only a matter of time before he cements himself as the ABs incumbent lock with sam whitelock.

weepu looks good in the haka??? LMAO, that is the No1 reason going round in NZ for his selection. hansen has said that he rates weepu as the worlds best wet weather halfback.
for me i look at him and see a great impact player to come of the bench and with aaron smith still green, despite having the best passing game in the world an experienced head on the bench is needed for the just in case.
im all for experience on the bench as back up, but i would have gone with andy ellis who has been in top form for the crusaders.

bro, i am 100% worried with our issues at hooker, a problem hansen only looked into during the irish series cos of kevs injury.
and while i hope this attitude changes, im not worried about it against the wallabies. IMO we play the best team possible against the wallabies and Boks and use the pumas and EOYT to tinker with certain positions.

@brycy,

cmon bro, lets put those chiefs tinted glasses down for a sec, LMAO.

i rate kerr barlow, but not for the IRC, maybe for the EOYT. we all know weepu is playing on borrowed time and will be phaseed out over the next few years while aarons smith cements his status as the incumbent No9.
the combos are always good, but dont forget that aaron smith and aaron cruden have the turbo combo as that is ITMs manawatu 9/10 pairing and they have played more games together the barlow/cruden have.
even if tj was around, i still think hansen would have gone with weepu, but something tells me that the war for the All Blacks halfback position, is looking very promising with these 3 youngsters looking to push each other for the AB rights, no matter the outcme, its the All Blacks and their fans who will benefit.

i wouldnt mind seeing sam cane in the picture, but with adam thomoson missing out and our looseforwards plus bench looking like the strongest and in better form then anyone else in the IRC, competition is always going to be stiff.
only a matter of time before cane becomes a permanent AB fixture, so his absence is a loss, but a very easy one to swallow.

not sold on clarkie though, great spXV level player, but there are better options in NZ and jared hoeata is one that springs to mind.
whitelock, retallick and romano are the All Blacks future though, but the likes of clarke and hoeata also leave me feeling comfortable depth wise, but if AB honours continue to elude them, its only a matter of time before overseas cash steals the from NZ shores.

@beeno1,

yep not surprised to see the ref card being played before the first whistle even blows. hope ur Boks have the same assesment about the All Blacks players that u do, will make the job easier for the All Blacks quest to win every game in 2012, of course we all know that its the refs fault aye ben10??? lol.

saSUE your days are numbered. I know it , you know it we all know it. Take what comes your way this season as lean years are coming.

I am hoping for a few suprises this year but that maybe too optimistic.  What is sure though is that the future, as we consider it now, looks very promising.