The Springbok and Wallaby teams have been named to play the seventh Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 28th of August in South Africa. It will be Victor Matfield’s 100th test for the Springboks. If victorious he will be the first Springbok to win his 100th test. Percy Montgomery lost his landmark game, and John Smit played his 100th test against the All Blacks in last week and lost.

Springboks

15-Francois Steyn, 14-JP Pietersen, 13-Jaque Fourie, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Francois Hougaard, 8-Pierre Spies, 7-Juan Smith, 6-Schalk Burger, 5-Victor Matfield, 4-Flip van der Merwe, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-John Smit, 1-Gurthro Steenkamp
Reserves: 16-Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17-CJ van der Linde, 18-Danie Rossouw, 19-Ryan Kankowski, 20-Enrico Januarie, 21-Butch James, 22-Juan de Jongh.

Wallabies

15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Faainga, 1 Benn Robinson.
Reserves: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Ben McCalman, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Faainga.

The All Black and Springbok teams have been named to play the sixth Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 21st of August at 5pm, local time at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

All Blacks:

15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.

Springboks:

15 Gio Aplon, 14 JP Pietersen, 13, Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (capt), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.

Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Danie Rossouw , Francois Louw, Ricky Januarie, Butch James, Wynard Olivier.

Points of Interest:

The match at Soccer City Stadium will be in front of over 90,000 fans.

The Springboks have made eight changes to the their team. Gio Aplon, JP Pietersen, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Francois Hougaard, Juan Smith, Jannie du Plessis and Flip van der Merwe come into the team.

The All Blacks have made two changes to their starting fifteen, with Ben Franks replacing his brother Owen at tighthead prop. Owen Franks drops out of the 22 and John Afoa comes onto the bench.

Jimmy Cowan returns from injury and replaces Piri Weepu, who moves to the bench. Israel Dagg replaces Benson Stanley on the All Black bench.

John Smit is playing his 100 test for the Springboks.

Victor Matfield is playing his 99th.

Keven Mealamu will join Ian Jones as the fifth-most capped All Black, with 79 tests.

Daniel Carter needs 3 more points to overtake Andrew Merhtens, who holds the record of most test points against South Africa for the All Blacks, with 207.

Joe Rokocoko has 9 tries against South Africa. He needs one more to equal Christian Cullen’s record of ten.

The Wallaby and All Black teams have been named to play the fifth Tri-Nations test and second Bledisloe Cup game of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 7th of August at 7.35pm, local time at AMI Stadium in Christchurch

Wallabies:

15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia; 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (capt), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Benn Robinson.

Reserves: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Cameron Shepherd.

All Blacks:

15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Piri Weepu; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Benson Stanley.

Points of Interest:

If the All Blacks win they will retain the Bledisloe Cup for 2010.

The Wallabies have lost the last 8 test matches in a row against the All Blacks.

The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 49-28 in Melbourne last weekend.

Jimmy Cowan suffered rib cartilage damage in that match and has been replaced by Piri Weepu in the only change to the All Black starting 15. Alby Mathewson joins the reserves bench. The only other change is Benson Stanley replacing Israel Dagg on the bench.

Tony Woodcock will overtake former team mate Greg Somerville as the most capped All Black prop, with 67 caps. He has scored 6 test tries, with 5 of them being against the Wallabies.

Ma’a Nonu will play his 50th test. He first debuted for the All Blacks against England in 2003. He has started 29 of the 31 tests since the 2007 World Cup.

Kurtley Beale and the Faingaa twins have been promoted to the starting Wallaby line-up. Kurley Beale starts at fullback, with Adam Ashley-Cooper moving to centre to replace the injured Rob Horne. Hooker Stephen Moore and Second-Five Berrick Barnes drop to the bench to be replaced by Saia Faingaa and Anthony Faingaa respectively.

The Faingaa twins became the 40th set of brothers and third set of twins to play for the Wallabies. This will be their first start together.

Cameron Shepherd comes onto the bench for possibly his first cap since 2008

The Wallaby and All Black teams have been named to play the fourth Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 1st of August at 8pm, local time at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

Wallabies:

15 Adam Ashley Cooper, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia; 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (capt), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.

Reserves: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Anthony Faingaa, 22 Kurtley Beale.

All Blacks:

15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.

Points of Interest:

There are only two changes from the Australian team who beat South last week. Stephen Moore in place of Saia Faingaa and Berrick Barnes comes in at no. 12 with Matt Giteau replacing the suspended Quade Cooper at 10.

If twin brothers Saia and Anthony Faingaa come off the bench they will become the 40th set of brothers to play a test together for the Wallabies.

Nathan Sharpe will equal the record for most tests by an Australian lock. It is currently help by John Eales with 84 test caps.

Joe Rokocoko will become the most capped All Black wing, over taking All Black greats John Kirwan and Jonah Lomu.

With 66 caps, Tony Woodcock will join former team mate Greg Somerville as the most capped All Black prop.

The Wallabies have lost the last 7 test matches in a row against the All Blacks.

Matt Giteau needs one more conversion to move ahead of Springbok Percy Montgomery for most conversions scored against the All Blacks.

The Wallabies and Springbok teams have been named to play the third Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 24th of July at 8pm, local time at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

WALLABIES:

15 Adam Ashley Cooper, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia; 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Fainga, 1 Benn Robinson

Reserves: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.

SPRINGBOKS:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Ryan Kankowski, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.

Reserves: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Butch James, 22 Juan de Jongh.

Points of Interest:

This test will be the Springboks’ last away test of the Tri-Nations.

The Wallabies beat the Springboks in Brisbane last year 21-6. It was South Africa’s only loss of the tournament.

This Wallabies team contains 13 of the players who played in that match.

It will be the first Tri-Nations match for Rob Horne, Quade Cooper, Salesi Ma’afu and Saia Faingaa.

On the bench Kurtley Beale, Matt Hodgson, Rob Simmons and James Slipper could also make their Tri-Nations debut.

Springbok Gio Aplon comes on to the wing for the suspended Jean de Villiers

Ryan Kankowski replaces Francois Louw in the Springbok loose forwards, BJ Botha starts ahead of CJ van der Linde, and Ruan Pienaar replaces Ricky Januarie as starting halfback.

The All Black and Springbok teams to play the second Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 17th of July at 7:35pm, New Zealand time at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

All Blacks
15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.

Springboks:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Reserves: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon.

Points of Interest:

There are only two changes to each starting team. Piri Weepu and Rene Ranger start for the the All Blacks. Danie Rossouw and CJ van der Linde start for the Springboks

Bakkies Botha has been banned from all rugby for nine weeks for headbutting Jimmy Cowan in the last test.

The Springboks were beaten by the All Blacks last week 32-12 at Eden Park, Auckland.

The All Blacks need just seven points to overtake France as the highest point scorers ever in test rugby. However, the will do it in a third less games. France has scored 11,792 in 660 tests; New Zealand has scored 11,786 points in 462.

The All Black and Springbok teams to play the first Tri-Nations test of 2010.

All Blacks
15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Richard Kahui.

Springboks:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Reserves: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon.

Points of Interest:

• The All Blacks have not lost at Eden Park since 1994.
• The All Blacks haven’t lost to the Springboks at Eden Park since 1937
• The Springboks have beaten the All Blacks in their last three games.
• There will be a total of 1332 test caps on the field at kick off, with the All Blacks having 671 caps, and the Springboks with 661.

The game kicks off at 7:35pm NZ time on Saturday the 10th of July at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand.

Following on from yesterday’s article on Daniel Braid and Tanerau Latimer, 29 year old 4 test All Black Daniel Braid has now confirmed his return to New Zealand.

Braid has impressed this year as the “marquee import” for the Queensland Reds, with the current set of break-down rules giving him the chance to really show his skill set. He has now signed for his old team, the Blues and the Auckland provinical team. He won’t be available to play for the All Blacks until after the Tri-Nations, as his contract does not begin until July 1st. It will go through till the end of 2012.

In a statement, Braid said:
“I am very happy to be returning to Auckland and New Zealand during such an exciting time for New Zealand rugby. Having the Rugby World Cup in your home country and the opportunity to potentially push for a place to represent New Zealand is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and this was a factor in my decision to return home,” he said.

“I have enjoyed my time at the Reds, and am hoping to leave on a high note as part of a team that has improved enormously this season.”

Ironically, on the same day Daniel Braid announced his return to New Zealand, Tanerau Latimer was announced to have resigned with the NZRU.

If the Tri-Nations Started tomorrow, which All Black backs would take the field? It’s difficult to pick an All Blacks team considering the form of the current incumbents. In many cases it comes down to having to choose between experience and form. Halfback, for example, sees Alby Matthewson and Khan Fotuali’i showing the best form and the incumbents struggling. A balance needs to be met, but if a must-win test was being played tomorrow, Graham Henry is most likely to err on the side of experience.

15. Fullback: Isaia Toeava.
This is an extremely competitive position in New Zealand’s teams, and with regular custodian Mils Muliaina injured, the spot is wide open. Toeava, Corey Jane and Israel Dagg are having good years. As a combination, Toeava and Jane win. With his huge kick Toeava takes the spot and Jane retains his All Black spot on the wing.

11. and 14. Wings. Corey Jane and Joe Rokocoko.
As mentioned, Jane keeps his right wing spot from the End of Year Tour. Despite preferring to play fullback, Jane will have to settle for forming a right wing/fullback combination with Isaia Toeava. It’s the best use of both of their talents.
To complement Corey Jane, a playmaker is needed on the left wing. In the absence of Sitiveni Sivivatu, this job goes to Joe Rokocoko, in the position he began his career at 60 tests ago. He needs to continue to up his work rate, but so far in the Super 14 the signs are good. The other form wing, Zac Guilford, misses out in order to bring some variety to the back three. Despite all his skills at chasing offloads, his work rate, and reliability, the All Blacks need a playmaker here, in my position. Ben Smith is difficult to rate considering the form of his Super 14 team.

13. Centre. Conrad Smith.
No question. While previously he was under threat by Richard Kahui, Kahui just isn’t challenging at the moment. Kahui is making good turnovers with his big hits, but is too often guilty of allowing his line to be broken; his missed tackle statistics tell a sorry story. Admittedly he is under more pressure here due to the umbrella defence the Chiefs employ. His poor handling against the Bulls last week were incredibly costly. Conrad Smith, on the other hand, is super reliable on defence and the difference he makes to Ma’a Nonu’s attack when they play together is telling. I’m noticing more of a physical presence this year when he has the ball in hand too, as well as the usual . An honourable mention goes to Robbie Freun. He’s making fast progress, but not fast enough to make the team just yet.

12. Second-Five. Ma’a Nonu.
As with centre, there just isn’t a realistic alternative at the moment. Luke McAllister is being kept out of the starting Blues team by Benson Stanley. Stephen Donald is showing he is a potential bench cover, but fans will be popping blood vessels if they see him starting at no. 12 again. While the only realistic contender, Nonu isn’t having his best year. He needs to tighten his game up, particularly on defence.

10. First-Five. Dan Carter.
As usual, Carter just isn’t being challenged, and he isn’t even in his best form. Hopefully the added pressure of playing in the black jersey will help him sort out his recent kicking wobbles. Having started the last two weeks in a row, Mike Delany is looking like the most likely back up. The jury remains out on whether he is big enough for the test arena, but he looks to have certainly overtaken Donald is the second best first five in New Zealand. Despite all the recent media coverage, Stephen Brett really isn’t consistent enough for test rugby yet. Aaron Cruden and Robbie Robertson are also yet to live up to the hype. New Zealand fans will continue to hold their respective breaths every time Dan Carter gets tackled.

9. Half-Back. Jimmy Cowan.
It’s an interesting time for halfbacks in New Zealand. The best ones seem to be the un(test)capped Khan Fotuali’i and Alby Matthewson. I don’t know whether it will be enough for Graham Henry to risk debuting a halfback just yet, so Cowan gets it by default. Brendon Leonard is showing a bit more spark, but is making too many errors. Piri Weepu is out of form at the moment as well.