New captain to lead All Blacks in Bledisloe battle

An injury to Sam Cane has forced coach Ian Foster to make one change to the All Blacks lineup and appoint a new captain for Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies.

Regular skipper Cane suffered a neck injury in his team’s commanding victory over the Springboks a fortnight ago and given his had previously broken his neck in 2018, the All Blacks selectors opted to rest him for the Test against Australia.

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Starting in his place in the back row is Dalton Papali’i, in what is the only change to the starting XV. Ardie Savea takes over the captaincy in Cane’s absence.

There’s a lot on movement on the bench, where all of lock Sam Whitelock, centre Anton Lienert-Brown, loose forward Luke Jacobson, prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi and uncapped scrumhalf Cam Roigard have been selected.

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ALL BLACKS FIRED UP

Commenting on the forthcoming showdown against Eddie Jones’ struggling Wallabies, Foster said the All Blacks are motivated to put in a big performance worthy of the two pieces of silverware on the line.

“This trophy [Bledisloe Cup] means so much to both countries and we expect a massive challenge on Saturday,” he said.

“As the final Rugby Championship Test, there is much at stake in this game. We have learned a lot from two stern Tests so far this year, and there is huge excitement about playing Australia at this iconic ground.”

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