Sonny Bill Williams to captain the Blues
All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams will lead the Blues when they face the Sunwolves in their Super Rugby clash in Albany on Saturday.
Williams replaces Ma’a Nonu as one of six changes to the run-on side which lost to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires last weekend.
The Blues also welcome back two long-term injured players to add spark to the team.
Loose forward Blake Gibson will make his first appearance, starting on the openside flank after being sidelined with an injury. His return allows All Black Dalton Papalii to come off the bench after playing high minutes in the opening three games.
The two metre tall lock Scott Scrafton will come off the bench after nearly one year out of the sport after damaging both his ACL and LCL in the knee and ripping the tendon off the bone.
There’s a homegrown look to the tight five with All Black Karl Tu’inukuafe, James Parsons and Sione Mafileo forming a potent front-row and Gerard Cowley-Tuioti starting at lock – all from North Harbour and starting on their home turf.
In-form Northland lock Josh Goodhue will partner Cowley-Tuioti in the second-row while Tom Robinson and Akira Ioane again start in the loose.
Outstanding rookie Harry Plummer gets his first start at fly-half, swapping spots with Otere Black, who comes off the bench, and Williams starts in midfield alongside TJ Faiane.
Northland’s Sam Nock has recovered from a calf injury and is included on the bench as is big Tasman midfielder Levi Aumua.
The Blues will spell Ofa Tuungafasi and Patrick Tuipulotu with prescribed All Blacks rest, while Alex Hodgman has also been rested with a slight knee injury suffered in Argentina.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks of long travel, short turnarounds, hot conditions, and performances that were below our capabilities,” said coach Leon MacDonald.
“It’s good to have some of our key injured players back to inject some freshness both in the starting team and off the bench and give us a chance to rest some who have had a big start to the season.
“We also expect our North Harbour boys to really stand up on their home ground and set the platform upfront for our backs to prosper. Overall we are looking for a more physical job at the breakdown, and more accuracy and patience.
“Clearly the Sunwolves are a vastly different team with a lot of New Zealand and Australian players with Super Rugby experience. They proved their capability last week with the win against the Chiefs and we are under no illusions of the challenge they will bring.
“We are looking forward to it and hopefully produce a game of real quality.”
Blues: 15 Melani Nanai, 14 Tanielu Tele’a, 13 TJ Faiane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams (c), 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Harry Plummer, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Tom Robinson, 5 Josh Goodhue, 4 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 James Parsons, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Marcel Renata, 18 Lua Li, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Sam Nock, 22 Otere Black, 23 Levi Aumua
Date: Saturday, March 9
Venue: QBE Stadium, Albany
Kick-off: 19:35 local (06:35 GMT)
Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: James Munro (New Zealand), Dan Waenga (New Zealand)
Television match official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
