Guildford: Into the big time
Hurricanes winger Zac Guildford will make his New Zealand debut against Wales in Cardif on Saturday's opening November Test.
Guildford makes his Test debut as replacement for the suspended Sitiveni Sivivatu, who collected a one week ban after a dangerous tackle on Wallabies centre Adam Ashley-Cooper.
And Wyatt Crockett takes over from another suspended player - loosehead prop Tony Woodcock, who misses the Wales game for striking Wallabies flanker George Smith.
Three other changes in the pack see starts for lock Jason Eaton, flanker Jerome Kaino - a try-scorer against Wales last year - and number eight Kieran Read.
And there is also a switch at scrum-half, where Brendan Leonard replaces Jimmy Cowan, from where he will distirbute ball to a fit-again Dan Carter.
New Zealand have not lost to Wales since 1953, winning 20 Tests in succession and totalling almost 700 points during that time.
"I'm still in a bit of shock. Happy can't really describe it. I can't find a word, I'm just really excited about the game," Guildford said.
Graham Henry was confident Guildford - and likely debutant Ben Smith off the bench - would be able to step up to the plate at the highest level.
"Zac's had his challenges during the year and he's met them well," said Henry of a season in which Guildford has amassed 13 tries in 14 games for Hawke's Bay.
" He's used those as motivation and achieved a goal earlier than he expected, I'd imagine.
"We need to know if all these players are up to international standard and they get opportunities to prove that. We're using this game for one or two of those question marks."
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Brendan Leonard, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Ben Smith.
Date: Saturday, November 7
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television match officials: Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand) vs Steve Hilditch (Ireland)
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