Watch out Stormers, here come the All Blacks
Posted by Hamish McBrearty on March 21st, 2007
All six Crusaders’ All Blacks to start against the Stormers
After being without the services of six All Blacks for the first half of the Super 14, Crusaders’ coach Robbie Deans has chosen to start all his returning All Blacks this weekend.
A completely new back line and reinvigorated forward pack will meet the Stormers in Christchurch this Saturday night. Although coach Deans has some concerns over the match fitness of his returning players, he has elected not to play some from the bench making the starting line up the strongest the Crusaders have fielded this year.
All Black playmaker Dan Carter returns to first five where Stephen Brett has played so brilliantly. Carter is joined in the back line by second five Aaron Mauger and fullback Leon MacDonald. Up front All Blacks’ captain Richie McCaw returns as the Crusaders’ openside flanker, while world class lock Chris Jack and blindside flanker Reuben Thorne will bolster the Crusaders’ line out.
In an interesting move coach Deans has opted to leave the captaincy in the hands of Corey Flynn for this match, although he made clear that McCaw would return to the captaincy role over the next few weeks. Flynn will lead not only current captain McCaw, but also former captains Mauger and Thorne.
Rookie second five Tim Bateman may be the unluckiest player to be left out of the line up, missing selection entirely. However as Bateman rolled his ankle late in the victory against the Bulls, giving him extra time to heal will provide the Crusaders additional cover further down the road.
Out of form winger Caleb Ralph has been dropped from the line up to play the Stormers entirely, with Scott Hamilton moving to the wing to make way for MacDonald.
Coach Deans has also opted to name only two back reserves in his 22 man squad, a move which could backfire if a number of injuries occur.
The team is:
Leon MacDonald, Rico Gear, Casey Laulala, Aaron Mauger, Scott Hamilton, Daniel Carter, Andrew Ellis, Mose Tuiali’i, Richard McCaw, Reuben Thorne, Chris Jack, Ross Filipo, Campbell Johnstone, Corey Flynn (captain), Wyatt Crockett.
Reserves: Ti’i Paulo, Ben Franks, Michael Paterson, Kieran Read Johnny Leo’o, Kevin Senio, Stephen Brett.
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The Watch out Stormers, here come the All Blacks by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
