All Blacks team to play the pumas named,,,

The All Blacks team to play Argentina in the Investec Rugby Championship match at Westpac Stadium, Wellington, on Saturday 8 September has been named.
 

The team is as follows: (with Test caps in brackets. * denotes new cap)

Starting XV:

1. Tony Woodcock (87)
2. Keven Mealamu (95)
3. Owen Franks (36)
4. Luke Romano (3)
5. Brodie Retallick (5)
6. Victor Vito (14)
7. Richie McCaw - captain (108)
8. Kieran Read (40)
9. Aaron Smith (5)
10. Daniel Carter (89)
11. Julian Savea (2)
12 Ma’a Nonu (68)
13.Conrad Smith (58)
14. Cory Jane (33)
15. Israel Dagg (17)

Reserves:

16. Andrew Hore (67)
17. Charlie Faumuina *
18. Samuel Whitelock (30)
19. Liam Messam (12)
20. Piri Weepu (61)
21. Aaron Cruden (12)
22. Ben Smith (6)

The squad features the return to the starting XV of the All Blacks most capped prop Tony Woodcock and centre Conrad Smith, who have recovered from their respective rib cartilage and eye injuries, while there’s a reversal of roles for loose forward Victor Vito and lock Brodie Retallick who come into the starting XV for Liam Messam and Samuel Whitelock, who are on the bench.

The other change to the starting XV sees winger Julian Savea get his third Test start, replacing Hosea Gear on the left wing, while prop Charlie Faumuina, looks set to make his All Blacks debut from the pine, replacing Ben Franks on the reserves bench.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: “We have been working on constantly improving our game and that has again been our focus this week. We were happy with our intensity and attitude in the last Test against Australia, but not so happy with our execution when we didn’t get the decision-making process right on occasions, so we are looking for improvement in that area this weekend.”

Hansen said it was exciting having Argentina in the new Investec Rugby Championship and the All Blacks were under no illusion of how tough the Test would be.

“It is going to be very physical, especially up front where they are traditionally very strong. We also have immense respect for their backline abilities plus they have one of the best defensive structures in modern rugby. They are always looking to work as a unit to shut you down,” Hansen added.

Interesting facts

• The All Blacks have played Argentina in 14 Tests since 1985, with the last Test the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match which the All Blacks won 33 -10. The All Blacks have won 13 times with a 21-all draw in 1985.

• The current All Blacks squad have had little experience playing Argentina, compared to other international opponents. All Blacks Captain Richie McCaw, hooker Andrew Hore and prop Tony Woodcock have played them just three times in their long All Blacks careers.

pretty much the team most of us thought it would be, give or take a few players.

im very happy to see charlie faumuina on the bench, All Blacks keep giving our youngsters room to grow and with woody and o franks starting, we have our best frontrow to battle the mean pumas up front.
very very happy to see charlie named.

while i thought it would have been a good chance to play ben smith at full back, hansen has decided to keep the core players in the backline, but lets savea take over from gear to further his All Black education.
i would like to see him get involved and continue the All Blacks tradition of pushing each other to the limits with good performances, cos he knows that with the Boks around the corner, gear will be there to swoop up if things dont go according to plan.
i honestly dont think the pumas know what theyre in for when it comes to savea, but henrys involvment with the team will mean they wont walk in completely unaware.

every game that aaron smith continues to play, is making me more comfortable and happier by the second. he is the All Blacks incumbent halfback easy and only injury will hamper his All Blacks good fortune.
the only halfback in the world who i would say is better then aarons smith at the moment is will genia and thats based on reputation alone, if based only on form then IMHO aaron smith and then daylight and everyone else.

i would have loved to see mesam continue his All Blacks steady progression as well, hes been the form No6 for NZ hands down in 2012, the more i think about it, hes been the form No6 in the world.
but its great to see vito play in front on his turf in wellington, im a big believer that players always play better when on their stomping grounds, all in the head type of stuff though and im expecting vito to shut down the pumas big time on defence and be relentless on attack like he usually is and to think that we still got messam on the bench.

no doubts about it boys, a 4 try bonus victory and keep the pumas tryless is my expectation and the benchmark with this team, anything else will be very disappointing.
no offense to the Boks, but if the All blacks perform the way they did in their first two IRC test matches, i would be really peed off.

GO ALL BLACKS!!!

Carters out with a calf injury so can't wait for Aaron Cruden to weave some of that magic he's capable of.

Playing Savea on the wing  is also another good move by Hansen so looking good for the weekend. ABs gunna kick some butt with what looks like a better attacking team than the one that beat the Aussies.

@brycy,

its a win win for the All Blacks all right, many in NZ were calling for cruden to start against the pumas anyways, but carters injury is hopefully not a sign of things to come over the next few years. injury catches up with us all, even the worlds best 10, but i take great solace in knowing hes beu=ing repalced by IMHO the worlds 2nd best and form flyhalf, im a diehard All Blacks supporter big time, but i really do think that about cruden.

glad to see savea and vito start, especially in wellington, cos thats going to do them both a world of good and the All Blacks too as both are looking to push their All Blacks rivals messam and gear.
hard not to be confidetn of the All Blacks taking out the IRC easy this year, when we dont have room for the likes of sam cane, ben franks, hosea gear, zac guilford, tamati ellison, adam thomoson, kerr barlow, andy ellis and kahui and carter out with injury. to say nothing of messam, ben smith, andrew hore and sam whitelock on the bench,,,sheesh, talk about spoilt with selection riches, o_O