Graham Henry has bowed to pressure and cleaned out his under-performing All Blacks - the only real surprise being the continued inclusion of the dire Rokocoko. He had a good game for Auckland over the weekend, but really, who can justify his test selection ahead of Cory Jane or Hosea Gear. He was diabolical in both tests versus the Boks... an NPC game is nowhere near the intensity of test rugby - expect more blunders from Big Joe come Saturday.
McAlister comes in for Nonu, who was remarkably invisible for such a big man the last few weeks, and Read gets a deserved run ahead of So'oialo, who looks like he needs to be put out to pasture (perhaps Toulon could use his fading efforts).
And, lest I forget, DAN CARTER, the world's sexiest flyhalf, has been rushed back from injury to lift the flagging New Zealand spirits. The man's a genius - expect nothing less than a masterful performance and huge Test Rugby points.
Australia are looking awesomely packed with attacking prowess. O'Connor was very nearly unstoppable against the Boks and is sure to have a field day against New Zealands sometimes suspect defense. Ashley-Cooper comes in for the injured Mortlock, which may be a blessing in disguise - the old warhorse maybe needs to join So'oialo in that pasture. And the big news - ROCKY ELSOM, the world's most destructive flanker. He is a monster of a man, and will add the grunt and thuggery missing from the Aussie breakdown. Sure, he hasn't played a game in months, but why should that slow him down? He was in stupendous form prior to his injury, and his rampaging runs are sure to grace our television screens.
ALL BLACKS: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Rodney So'oialo, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Ma'a Nonu.
WALLABIES: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 David Pocock, 20 Will Genia, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Peter Hynes.
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