All Black team to face Wallabies announced

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has named his 23-man squad that will play in the opening round of the 2013 Rugby Championship against Australia in Sydney.

The experienced trio of Andrew Hore, Owen Franks and Tony Woodcock, in his 99th Test, make up the front row; the locks are Sam Whitelock and Luke Romano; with number eight Kieran Read and blindside flanker Liam Messam joining McCaw in the back row.

Aaron Smith starts at halfback, with Aaron Cruden in the playmaker role; the All Blacks most capped midfield pairing of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith are in their familiar 12 and 13 jerseys in their 80th and 70th Tests respectively; while the back three are the exciting trio of Ben Smith and Julian Savea on the wings, with Israel Dagg at fullback.

“There’s huge excitement in the group as the Bledisloe Cup is a very important trophy for the All Blacks,” said Steve Hansen.

“With the changing of the guard in the Australian coaching group, it adds a little bit of the unexpected to the challenge. Therefore, we need to ready for anything they chuck at us.

“Whilst the expectations will be as high as they always are for the All Blacks to perform and win, I have a feeling there will also be huge expectations on the Australians because of the changes, and it will be interesting to see how their players and their new coaching team cope with this.”

The team is (Test caps in brackets):

Starting XV:
1. Tony Woodcock (98)
2. Andrew Hore (76)
3. Owen Franks (47)
4. Luke Romano (14)
5. Samuel Whitelock (41)
6. Liam Messam (23)
7. Richie McCaw (capt.) (116)
8. Kieran Read (51)
9. Aaron Smith (15)
10. Aaron Cruden (22)
11. Julian Savea (11)
12. Ma’a Nonu (79)
13. Conrad Smith (69)
14. Ben Smith (15)
15. Israel Dagg (28)

Reserves:
16. Keven Mealamu (104)
17. Ben Franks (25)
18. Charlie Faumuina (7)
19. Brodie Retallick (14)
20. Sam Cane (7)
21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (4)
22. Beauden Barrett (8)
23. Ryan Crotty *