Australia
All Blacks switch three for Bledisloe decider
ESPN Staff
August 12, 2015
Preview: New Zealand v Australia
New Zealand have made three changes to their starting XV for Saturday's second Bledisloe Cup clash against Australia. Head coach Steve Hansen has responded to last weekend's chastening defeat by the Wallabies in Sydney by bringing in centre Ma'a Nonu, lock Sam Whitelock and back-rower Victor Vito. Jerome Kaino drops out of the starting XV to the bench, while Luke Romano falls out of the squad altogether. Sonny Bill Williams is ruled out with injury. Joining Kaino on a slightly rejigged reserves list is hooker Keven Mealamu and prop Wyatt Crockett, who come in for Codie Taylor and Ben Franks respectively, while Colin Slade is preferred to Beauden Barrett in the only change in the backs division.
Richie McCaw will set a new all-time Test caps mark
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The All Blacks will be captained by a record-breaking Richie McCaw, who will become the world's most-capped Test player this weekend at Eden Park in Auckland when he runs out for 142nd appearance. "This game is one of the best challenges we could have," Hansen said. "We pride ourselves on our performance and last week's wasn't good enough, so we have been working hard at all areas of our game. We know we have to be smarter, more accurate and bring more intensity right across the park. "It's also our last Test match in New Zealand for the year, so it's important that we deliver a performance that we can be proud of in front of our home fans." "Finally, I would also like to take this opportunity on behalf of myself and the All Blacks to publicly acknowledge Richie's achievement in becoming the most capped Test player in the history of the game. His performances week in, week out in the black jersey have been nothing short of extraordinary." New Zealand XV to face Australia Ben Smith, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Julian Savea, Daniel Carter, Aaron Smith, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (c), Victor Vito, Samuel Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Dane Coles, Tony Woodcock Replacements: Keven Mealamu, Wyatt Crockett, Nepo Laulala, Jerome Kaino, Sam Cane, TJ Perenara, Colin Slade, Malakai Fekitoa
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