Jerome Kaino returns to the starting line up of the All Blacks for this Saturday’s test against Australia, joining prop and Blues teammate Tony Woodcock.
All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said the team had prepared well this week for the opening Bledisloe Cup Test.
“The Bledisloe Cup is an important trophy for New Zealand rugby and for this team, and Australia is one of our oldest opponents. We are well aware that they have made improvements and that their coach Cheika wants them to be more physical and more consistent.
“Having said that, we are always looking to improve our game and understand that we will have to take a step up from our Ellis Park performance. This means we will need to bring physicality, intensity and accuracy to the occasion. I am picking this to be a brutal contest, and one we are looking forward to. It will be about us implementing our gameplan and skillsets for 80-plus minutes.”
The team is: (with Test caps in brackets. New All Blacks in bold)
1 Tony Woodcock (113)
2 Dane Coles (28)
3 Owen Franks (70)
4 Brodie Retallick (39)
5 Luke Romano (19)
6 Jerome Kaino (58)
7 Richie McCaw – captain (140)
8 Kieran Read (75)
9 Aaron Smith (39)
10 Daniel Carter (104)
11 Julian Savea (33)
12 Sonny Bill Williams (25)
13 Conrad Smith (86)
14 Nehe Milner-Skudder
15 Ben Smith (39)
16. Codie Taylor (2)
17. Ben Franks (42)
18. Nepo Laulala (2)
19. Samuel Whitelock (64)
20. Sam Cane (22)
21. TJ Perenara (13)
22. Beauden Barrett (29)
23. Malakai Fekitoa (9)
