All Blacks team: Scott Robertson makes firm decision on fly-half role, TJ Perenara ousted and shock call made up front
All Blacks fly-half options Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett, and dropped scrum-half TJ Perenara.
Scott Robertson has once again opted for Beauden Barrett at fly-half as the All Blacks boss selected his side to face England this weekend.
Damian McKenzie was picked in the key decision-making position for the opening eight games, but his mixed performances led to a change.
Barrett therefore took over for the final match of the Rugby Championship and, although McKenzie returned at 10 for the Japan clash, that suggested Robertson was looking towards the Test centurion for the Twickenham encounter.
That is the way the head coach has gone as Barrett partners the inexperienced Cortez Ratima at half-back.
Injury returnee
Outside of those playmaking slots, the All Blacks are boosted by the return of Jordie Barrett from injury and he once again combines with Rieko Ioane in the midfield.
The youngest Barrett represents one of three changes to the backline that faced the Wallabies. Mark Tele’a, who has been rewarded for his performance against Japan, and Ratima are the other two.
Tele’a starts on the right wing instead of Sevu Reece with Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan completing the back three.
Up front, there is one big alteration as Ethan de Groot is dropped, with Tamaiti Williams coming into the front-row alongside Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax.
Captain Scott Barrett is once again partnered by Tupou Vaa’i at lock while Wallace Sititi, Sam Cane and Ardie Savea are the loose trio combination.
On the bench, Pasilio Tosi gets in ahead of Fletcher Newell while Samipeni Finau is given another shot following injuries to Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson and Dalton Papali’i.
Meanwhile, Perenara is dropped from the 23 completely with the fit-again Cam Roigard coming into the squad to face England.
Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Anton Lienert-Brown and McKenzie round off the replacements.
“While we have met England twice this year already, four months is a long time in rugby and we know that both teams are different to the ones that met in New Zealand in July,” Robertson said.
“Twickenham is such an iconic place to play and the roar of the crowd there is like few others. The All Blacks have had some fierce battles there in recent years and that’s a challenge that we will step forward to, especially with the Hillary Shield at stake.”
All Blacks team to face England
All Blacks: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Mark Tele’a, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cam Roigard, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie
Date: Saturday, November 2
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Kick-off: 15:10 GMT (04:10 NZDT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
