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All Blacks squad for Air New Zealand European Tour and Japan

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All Blacks squad for Air New Zealand European Tour and Japan
Four new All Blacks for tour to Japan, France, England and Ireland

The All Blacks selectors, Head Coach Steve Hansen, Assistant Coach Ian Foster and former All Black Grant Fox have named their squad for the Test against Japan and Air New Zealand European Tour, with four new All Blacks selected.

The squad is as follows: (with province and Test caps. New caps are in bold)

Forwards

Hookersabs2
Dane Coles   Wellington (11)
Andrew Hore   Taranaki (81)
Keven Mealamu  Auckland (108)

Props
Wyatt Crockett  Canterbury (20)
Charlie Faumuina  Auckland (14)
Ben Franks  Hawke’s Bay (29)
Owen Franks   Canterbury (51)
Joe Moody  Canterbury *
Tony Woodcock  North Harbour (105)

Locks
Dominic Bird  Canterbury *
Brodie Retallick  Bay of Plenty (21)
Luke Romano  Canterbury (15)
Jeremy Thrush  Wellington (4)
Samuel Whitelock Canterbury (48)

Loose Forwardsabs2
Sam Cane   Bay of Plenty (13)
Steven Luatua  Auckland (8)
Richie McCaw – captain – Canterbury (120)
Liam Messam  Waikato (26)
Kieran Read  Canterbury (58)
Luke Whitelock  Canterbury *

Backs

Halfbacks
Tawera Kerr-Barlow Waikato (11)
TJ Perenara  Wellington *
Aaron Smith  Manawatu (22)

First five-eighths
Beauden Barrett Taranaki (14)
Daniel Carter  Canterbury (97)
Aaron Cruden  Manawatu (26)
Tom Taylor  Canterbury (2)

Midfieldersabs2
Ryan Crotty  Canterbury (1)
Ma’a Nonu  Wellington (85)
Francis Saili  North Harbour (1)

Outside backs
Israel Dagg  Hawke’s Bay (35)
Frank Halai   Counties Manukau *
Cory Jane  Wellington (43)
Charles Piutau  Auckland (7)
Julian Savea  Wellington (18)
Ben Smith  Otago (22)

The squad features four new All Blacks, all of whom have spent some time in the All Blacks environment this year.  They are the Canterbury and Crusaders trio of prop Joe Moody, 22-year-old lock Dominic Bird and 22-year-old loose forward Luke Whitelock, who joins his brother Sam in the All Blacks.  Counties Manukau and Blues winger Frank Halai, who was part of the All Blacks wider training group this year, is also picked in an official squad for the first time.

The squad also features the return of uncapped Wellington halfback TJ Perenara, who was named in the Investec Rugby Championship squad but had to withdraw after suffering a stress fracture.  His Wellington team mate Cory Jane is also in the squad after his late withdrawal from the Test team to play Australia on the weekend.  Canterbury lock Luke Romano, who is close to full recovery from his adductor tendon injury, has also been selected.  Canterbury midfielder Ryan Crotty also returns to the All Blacks after making his whirlwind Test debut against Australia in August after being called late into the side as injury cover.

One player was unavailable for selection due to injury: Canterbury loose forward Matt Todd (chest).

The All Blacks squad will be led by 120-Test All Blacks Captain Richie McCaw, who will be making his tenth tour to Europe, and Daniel Carter and Kieran Read are Vice-Captains.

The positional split for the squad sees 20 forwards selected (three hookers, six props, five locks and six loose forwards) and 16 backs (three halfbacks, four first five-eighths, three midfielders and six outside backs) and the squad has a combined total of 1,116 Test caps experience.

The squad is made up of five Highlanders players, 13 Crusaders, seven Hurricanes, five Chiefs and six Blues while provincial representation is led by Canterbury (12 players) with Wellington (six), Auckland (four), North Harbour, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu (two); and Counties Manukau and Otago (one).

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said:  “The selectors would like to congratulate those players picked in the All Blacks for the first time.  It is always a special moment for any rugby player in New Zealand and we know they have all worked hard to get here so it’s a proud moment for them and their families.”

Hansen said the All Blacks players and management were looking forward to the upcoming Tour and each of the Test matches would bring their own unique challenges.

“The aim of the Tour is to further develop our game structures, our skills sets and our individual players.  We will be looking to use the Tour to take ourselves beyond where we are at the moment,” Hansen said.

The All Blacks selectors have also announced that an “apprentice” player will accompany the All Blacks on tour – 20-year-old Wellington loose forward Ardie Savea, the younger brother of All Black Julian Savea.

“We are continuing the scheme we started with the younger hookers who came into camp earlier this year, and, like them, the aim of the initiative is to give him exposure to all aspects of the All Blacks environment.”

The All Blacks squad assembles in Auckland next Friday for a two-day camp after the All Blacks to The Nation visit to smaller towns.

The first part of the Tour will see 27 players head to Tokyo on Monday 28 October to prepare for the first Test against Japan on November 2, while nine players will head to Paris later in the week to start early preparations for the second Test against France.  The group heading to France will be named following the All Blacks camp.

The new All Blacks – mini biographiesabs2

DOMINIC BIRD.  A Junior World Champion in 2011, Dominic Bird joins a number of his New Zealand Under 20 teammates in the All Blacks. Athletic and powerful, his height is also an asset: when he makes his debut he will become the tallest All Black on record. Originally from the Central Hawke’s Bay in the North Island, Bird’s move to study environmental management at Lincoln University in Canterbury saw him take the step up.

FRANK HALAI.  Already a proven force in Sevens and a World Series winner with the All Blacks Sevens team, Frank Halai has been seriously impressive in the 15 a side game. He topped the Investec Super Rugby try scorers list in 2013 with 10 tries and was part of Counties Manukau’s Ranfurly Shield-winning side in the ITM Cup.  Comparisons have already been drawn between Halai and fellow Wesley College Old Boy Jonah Lomu, another formidable and hard-to-stop All Blacks wing.

JOE MOODY is the next “tank off the rank” from the Crusaders and Canterbury front row factory, showing impressive potential in the two years since his first-class debut and taking every opportunity provided to him to add a steady steel to the pack. Other sports aside from rugby have also benefitted from Moody’s strength and physicality: he has represented New Zealand in age-grade rugby league and wrestling, winning a bronze medal in the latter at the Junior Commonwealth Games.

LUKE WHITELOCK’S mobility and ferocious energy have been well-utilised by the Crusaders and Canterbury and he has made the most of his opportunities so far, earning the attention of the All Blacks coaches, who called him into camp during the Investec Rugby Championship.  Whitelock – the youngest of the Whitelock family’s professional players – captained the 2011 Junior World Championship-winning New Zealand Under 20 side.

All Blacks Management

Steve Hansen – Head Coach / Selector
Ian Foster – Assistant Coach / Selector
Grant Fox – Selector
Darren Shand – Manager
Gilbert Enoka – Assistant Manager
Mike Cron – Forwards Coach
Brian “Aussie” McLean – Defence Coach
Mick Byrne – Skills Coach
Alistair Rogers – Performance Analyst
Dr Tony Page – Doctor
Peter Gallagher – Physiotherapist
George Duncan – Manual Therapist
Dr Nic Gill – Strength and Conditioning Coach
Katrina Darry – Nutritionist
Errol Collins – Logistics
Joe Locke – Media Manager
Bianca Thiel – Executive Assistant

Japan Test and Air New Zealand European Tour

1. Japan (Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium, Tokyo, 2.00PM Saturday 2 November) – Japan Squad Announcement click here
2. France (Stade de France, Paris, 9.00PM Saturday 9 November)
3. England (Twickenham, London, 2.30PM Saturday 16 November)
4. Ireland (Aviva Stadium, Dublin, 2.00PM Sunday 24 November)

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