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All Blacks take on winless Wallabies in World Cup warm up

rugby04 August 2023 04:28| © Reuters
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Ian Foster © Gallo Images

New Zealand and Australia will put out teams with some inexperience for Saturday's World Cup warm-up test in Dunedin, but coaches Ian Foster and Eddie Jones have very different reasons for their selections.

The All Blacks wrapped up another Rugby Championship title and extended their hold on the Bledisloe Cup for another year with a 38-7 win over the Wallabies in Melbourne last week.

Wins in all three tests against Argentina, South Africa and Australia this season have given Foster the freedom to throw in a few wild cards and see how they go before he names his World Cup squad on Monday.

By contrast, the Wallabies have lost all three of their tests this year and Jones is still trying to find the formula that will enable Australia to take advantage of their soft World Cup draw and make a deep run in the tournament.

Foster will blood Super Rugby Pacific standouts Shaun Stevenson and Samipeni Finau under the roof at Dunedin's indoor stadium, while centre Dallas McLeod could make his first test appearance off the bench.

None of the three Barrett brothers - Beauden, Scott or Jordie - will start in what is, with notable exceptions such as Ardie Savea, a second-string All Blacks team.

Outside back Stevenson was not even in Foster's squad for the Rugby Championship, coming in as injury cover for Mark Talea and being asked to stick around after the winger recovered.

"We've got a lot of guys that have been with us and trained well and with what's coming around the corner, this is a great opportunity to give a few guys a run," Foster told reporters when announcing his team.

"Shaun has an opportunity ... and I'm pretty excited about seeing him. It's the last game of this particular phase but there's a lot going on this year, and we're focused on performance and what lies beyond."

While loose forward Sam Cane will return from injury to captain the All Blacks, Jones has named his third skipper in as many matches.

The former England coach has plumped for scrumhalf Tate McDermott to lead an almost unchanged starting team that has only 277 test caps between them - a tally surpassed by All Blacks Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Aaron Smith combined.

FOSTER RELAXED

Compared with last year, when his job was on the line after a home series loss to Ireland and a home defeat at the hands of Argentina, Foster struck a relaxed demeanour during his team announcement.

The same could not be said of Jones, who rounded on a journalist over criticism of his selection of the inexperienced Carter Gordon as his flyhalf for a second consecutive test.

Australia fought hard last week but the almost inevitable yellow cards and their inability to convert possession into points suggest the Wallabies will head to France with their losing streak against the All Blacks extended to seven tests.

Jones was, though, the last Australia coach to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand when his 2001 Wallabies won the final test played at Dunedin's old Carisbrook ground.

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