All Blacks team named to face england,,,

All Blacks team named to face England

The All Blacks team to play England at Twickenham Stadium, London, on Saturday 1 December in the fourth and final Test of the All Blacks Air New Zealand European Tour has been named.   The team is as follows: (with Test caps in brackets)

Starting XV:

1. Tony Woodcock (95)
2. Keven Mealamu (101)
3. Owen Franks (44)
4. Brodie Retallick (12)
5. Samuel Whitelock (38)
6. Liam Messam (19)
7. Richie McCaw - captain (115)
8. Kieran Read (47)
9. Aaron Smith (12)
10. Daniel Carter (93)
11. Julian Savea (8)
12. Ma'a Nonu (75)
13. Conrad Smith (65)
14. Cory Jane (40)
15. Israel Dagg (24)

Reserves:

16. Dane Coles (3)
17. Wyatt Crockett (10)
18. Charlie Faumuina (6)
19. Luke Romano (10)
20. Victor Vito (19)
21. Piri Weepu (68)
22. Aaron Cruden (19)
23. Ben Smith (11)

The final Test for the All Blacks Air New Zealand European Tour again features a vastly experienced squad, with 788 caps in the starting XV and 146 on the eight-man bench.

The starting XV features two changes from the team that started against Wales last weekend, with hooker Keven Mealamu and lock Brodie Retallick coming into the starting line-up.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: "There is huge motivation within the team to finish the season off on a high and real excitement ahead of this weekend, with a packed house at Twickenham always a great occasion.

"We know that the English will lift themselves for their final match of the year, especially following their two recent narrow defeats (to South Africa and Australia) and we need to be prepared to match them in all facets."

The All Blacks have played England 34 times since 1905 with 27 wins to the All Blacks, six to the English and one draw. The last Test between the two sides was at Twickenham in November 2010, with the All Blacks winning 26-16 on that occasion.

Interesting facts
• Tony Woodcock's try in last weekend's Test was statistically significant: firstly because it was the 1700th try scored by an All Black in a Test match. Secondly, the try took the All Blacks beyond 13,000 points in Test rugby. Woodcock played in his 95th Test match for his 81st victory.
• The 18 points kicked by Aaron Cruden against Wales are his most in a Test match - heading his 17 from the previous week. Cruden has played in 19 Tests without defeat. No player in history has begun their career so well.
• The All Blacks have scored 47 tries so far in 2012, with the following in descending order: South Africa 23, France and Ireland 22, England and Wales 20 and Australia and Scotland 14.

ilike this team, hansen has gone down the path of our strongest team possible. IMO that wasnt necessary, as we have already dispatched of wales who IMO is the stronegst NH team.

be thst as it may, i reckon that romano and whitelock are the two best locks at the moment, but the locking trio of whitelock, retallick & romano is easily the best in the world.

i also think that if hore wasnt so reckless, he would be starting this weekend and kev would be on the bench, but i do love the fact that coles is getting a lot of AB time, this will benfit him as a player which is good news for my hurricanes, but also addresses the All Blacks depth at hooker, so its a win, win win, :o)

hope McCaw has a big performance "AGAIN", he has not only been the standout looseforward in 2012, he has been the standout player in 2012, with daylights between him and the rest.

the trivial facts up there make a nice reading too, cruden has played 19 tests without a loss, o_O, wow, he needs more consistency in the All Black jersey, but as we saw this year, hes dominated on every other level,as he was the No1 flyhalf in the spXV bar none.

goosen and leilafano would have been contenders, had they not been more fragile then marys little lamb, but theres always next year i guess,,,

my favourite stat up there is how the All Blacks have scored 47 tries in 2012, 2nd place are the Boks who have 23, which whne doubled still dosent beat the All Blacks tally, lol.

but thats enough chest beating, cos the Boks like the wallabies have had challenges in 2012, so winning was their only real priority, not how it was done, so they have plenty to work on next year.

one more test my mighty All Blacks, lets put the english to the sowrd and see what new story they come up with next week to mask the weakness of the NH rugby nations.

GO THE MIGHTY MIGHTY ALL BLACKS!!!

i really hope the AB rape the poms. it would really make my weekend. a class team build for attacking rugby so i cant wait to watch it