10 players from Crusaders named in All Blacks team for the Rugby Championship

10 players from Crusaders named in All Blacks team for the Rugby Championship

By Naveel Krishant
08/08/2017

Ten players from the victorious Crusaders team has been named in the All Blacks team for the Rugby Championship.

They include All Blacks captain Kieran Read, Sam Whitelock, Ryan Crotty, Codie Taylor, Israel Dagg, Joe Moody, Owen Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Scott Barrett and Luke Romano.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says he expects Julian Savea and Crusaders openside flanker Matt Todd to play their way back into All Black selection in the future.

Fifty four test veteran Savea has been dropped by the selectors from the 33‑man squad unveiled for the Rugby Championship series which begins with next week's Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia in Sydney.

Savea, the scorer of 46 test tries, has struggled this year, facing the Lions in the third Test only while Todd, who has only played eight games for the All Blacks since his debut in 2013, also failed to secure a spot in the squad for the 6 match series against Australia, South Africa and Argentina.

Hansen says both Savea and Todd were very unlucky not to be picked.

Other top players selected include, Fiji born Waisake Naholo, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith, Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles and Jordie Barrett.

The All Blacks will play the Wallabies next Saturday. 

Forwards
Hookers
Dane Coles (Wellington/Hurricanes, 49)
Nathan Harris (Bay of Plenty/Chiefs, 8)
Codie Taylor (Canterbury/Crusaders, 19)


Props
Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury/Crusaders, 62)
Owen Franks (Canterbury/Crusaders, 94)
Nepo Laulala (Counties Manukau/Chiefs, 4)
Joe Moody (Canterbury/Crusaders, 28)
Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Auckland/Blues, 4)


Locks
Scott Barrett (Taranaki/Crusaders, 8)
Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay/Chiefs, 64)
Luke Romano (Canterbury/Crusaders, 26)
Samuel Whitelock (Canterbury/Crusaders, 88)
Loose forwards
Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty/Chiefs, 44)
Vaea Fifita (Wellington/Hurricanes, 1)
Jerome Kaino (Auckland/Blues, 74)
Kieran Read, captain (Counties Manukau/ Crusaders, 100)
Ardie Savea (Wellington/Hurricanes, 16)
Liam Squire (Tasman/Highlanders, 8)

Backs
Halfbacks
Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Waikato/Chiefs, 25)
TJ Perenara (Wellington/Hurricanes, 33)
Aaron Smith (Manawatu/Highlanders, 62)
First five-eighths
Beauden Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes, 53)
Lima Sopoaga (Southland/Highlanders, 7)


Midfielders
Ryan Crotty (Canterbury/Crusaders, 27)
Ngani Laumape (Manawatu/Hurricanes, 2)
Anton Lienert-Brown (Waikato/Chiefs, 13)
Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau/Blues, 36)


Outside backs
Jordie Barrett (Taranaki/Hurricanes, 2)
Israel Dagg (Hawke's Bay/Crusaders, 65)
Rieko Ioane (Auckland/Blues, 4)
Nehe Milner-Skudder (Manawatu/Hurricanes, 8)
Waisake Naholo (Taranaki/Highlanders, 13)
Ben Smith (Otago/Highlanders, 62)


Utility back / Replacement 
Damian McKenzie (Waikato/Chiefs, 2)

Source: RadioNZ   

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