British & Irish Lions - New Zealand's Squad

Let the team announcements begin! 

After all of the warm-up matches we are bang slap in the middle of Test week one and it's finally time to find out the composition of both match-day squads. Excited...? Yep, so am I!

As we've just see first it was the turn of Steve Hansen to name his side - rather bizarrely at 05.00am New Zealand time - however for us that it was nice and convenient so I'm not complaining one bit!

@BTSportRugby

As expected a few talking points arose from the announcement which I’ll go into now before diving into any further analysis. First and foremost Kieran Read is fit to start and captain the side like most believe that he would be. Ryan Crotty is also fit to partner a SBW who has found has straps in the centres while Rieko Ioane will make his first Test start having been preferred to Julian Savea. Elsewhere there’s no Dane Coles as clearly he’s still battling with concussion while the head coach will make a decision tomorrow between Aaron Cruden or Liam Sopoaga wearing the 22 jersey.

So what does this mean for the British & Irish Lions? Well let’s look at Kieran Read’s fitness first and in my book his presence is a good thing. Of course New Zealand would be weaker without him because he’s firmly established himself in the captaincy role following in the footsteps of Richie McCaw and he’s an extremely talented back row forward. Yet the Lions will want to face him because if they are going to win then they want to do so against the best the that New Zealand have to offer and not with a caveat of ‘oh well if Kieran Read was there the All Blacks would have won’. The captain is a handful and adds that wily, uniquely Kiwi presence to the breakdown but I personally want to see that on the field at Eden Park. This is about the best in the world facing off against each other over three Tests and one side prevailing at the end of it. A New Zealand without Kieran Read just wouldn’t be the same, just like a New Zealand without Richie McCaw wasn’t the same. 

Out wide Rieko Ioane’s first All Blacks start couldn’t have more pressure on it could it!? He’s a guy that’s 20 years of age who has just 19 Blues caps to his name and two Test appearances. However Steve Hansen has made the call and clearly backs the youngster to embrace the occasion. As I said on social media immediately after the squad announcement it will be up to the All Blacks’ leaders to help him do so. From a Lions perspective they have to try and get into the winger's head early and put him off course. My gut feel is that actually that won’t be easy to do and that we’ll see the young man thrive on his full Test debut however we’ll have to wait and see on that one. 

The centre partnership between Sonny Bill Williams and Ryan Crotty has the potential to start strongly again and grow throughout the three Tests. SBW is a Test match animal - I feel almost as if I’m insulting my and your intelligence by putting those words down on paper because it is so blindingly obvious however it must be said. Moments of magic and moments of outrageous skill that defy belief will be delivered by the inside centre this Test series and it’s up to the Lions’ stifling defence to limit them as best they can. 

While much of the All Blacks’ build-up has been focused on injuries and fitness races quietly behind the scenes the majority of their core members have been building in form and preparations have been ticking over. The Samoa Test highlighted a spot of rust but only 20 minutes of it because they found their straps. Clearly the British & Irish Lions will be a totally different prospect and shortly we will know exactly the cards that Warren Gatland will deal for Test One. 

The long and the short of New Zealand’s squad announcement is that the challenge will be as great as the Lions expected it to be. Personnel wise the All Blacks have 788 caps in their starting XV - an average of 54 per position - and those caps include multiple World Cup finals in four cases. If you add onto this the venue for Saturday’s Test - Eden Park - and the fact that the last time that New Zealand lost there was 1994 then the challenge is crystal clear. Impossible… no. Difficult… yes! 

New Zealand: 15. Ben Smith, 14. Israel Dagg, 13. Ryan Crotty, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 11. Rieko Ioane, 10. Beauden Barrett 9. Aaron Smith 1. Joe Moody 2. Codie Taylor 3. Owen Franks 4. Brodie Retallick 5. Samuel Whitelock 6. Jerome Kaino 7. Sam Cane 8. Kieran Read 

Replacements: 16. Nathan Harris 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Scott Barrett 20. Ardie Savea 21. TJ Perenara 22. Aaron Cruden  / Lima Sopoaga 23. Anton Lienert-Brown