Henry Rings in the Changes - 8 Changes to Victorious All Black Team

The All Black selectors continued with their rotation policy in anouncing the team changes today. One of the most interesting changes is the selection of Reuben Thorne at number 6 in place of Jerry Collins. This is the first time we have seen Thorne in the ABs for some time, and he will certainly get a lot of attention at the weekend. The former "Mr Invisible" will be scrutinised by fans and detractors alike. This is a big call and represents a return from the wilderness for Thorne.

The other changes to the forward pack are sound, Anton Oliver in for Keven Mealamu, Nima Tealata in for Tony Woodcock, and no surprise that Ali Williams is selected in place of the Mullet Man, Jason Eaton. These are all sound changes, and appear to be part of the rotation policy to generate exepreinced players for the 2007 World Cup. After the last outing against New Zealand it is no surprise to see Williams back in the All Black forward pack.

Both wingers have been replaced from the All Black side that beat the Wallabies, with Scott Hamilton and Doug Howlett coming in to take over from Rico Gear and Joe Rokocoko. In addition Sam Tuitupou comes into the side in place of Aaron Mauger at second five eights. Piri Weepu takes over from Byron Kelleher for the match also. I'd suggest that all of these changes are sound and make sense given the overall goal of having interchangeable players to cover injury and to bring some younger talent through.

However, there must be some doubt about blooding new talent as a lot of the players being selected have been selected for All Black sides in the past. For instance Reuben Thorne is hardly new blood by any stretch of the imagination, nor is Anton Oliver. The likes of Sam Tuitupou need some time to come back in from the cold having not been playing at international level for some time. Playing Tialata makes sense and is clear evidence of following the policy that will hopefully for kiwi fans yield the result needed next year. The changes and the policy make sense, and it would not appear to weaken the team ahead of the clash with Africa this weekend in Wellington. For more on the team and the anouncements, click here.

Jake White contionues to sturggle, recalling Butch James to the touring party to inject some physicality to the Springbok backline, and apparently some of his characteristically high and illegal shots. It will be interesting to see how he goes at the weekend. What is also interesting is the reference from the coaching staff to discouraging Dan Carter and Mauger (now not playing so we can assume Tuitupou) not wanting to run for fear of "coming close to a decapatation due to a swinging arm". Hmmm, perhaps these Africans haven't learned that boasting of dirty play beforehand doesn't seem to win matches? Reminiscent of the talk about Smith's dreadlocks last week. Click here for that article.

The inclusion of Butch seems unlikely to pay off for a team that has just been knocked by a massive loss. What is interesting in that article is the defence of the tactics White followed last game, and perhaps if they get those right the game could be much closer. Nevertheless this is the hope of South Africa, read here for more on the suggested strategy anounced by coaching staff. White has apparently done some soul searching, however it seems some of his younger players are going to feel the pinch, this doesn't bode well for the future of the game in the Republic. Click here for more on that story.

Finally a good piece of analysis has come out of the Aussie media. Spiro Zavos askes how good the Wallabies were against the Africans. Let's face it, the Africans weren't even playing the same game as the Wallabies that night and they were made to look good. While the Springboks might improve for this weekend's clash, the thrashing dished by the Wallabies doesn't mean that all of the weaknesses exposed by the All Blacks in the first Tri-Nations clash have suddenly been fixed. The main weakness is still the scrum which continued to be put under pressure, however the same pack has proved that they are devastating in utilising the rolling maul from the lineout and general play. If I was in charge of the Wallabies, the rolling maul would feature in play much more often as the All Blacks in particular seem unable to combat it. I expect to see it feature in the next clash at Suncorp. Not pretty, but it wins games. Click here for Spiro's article which also talks about some of the refereeing decisions in detail.

It would be a brave, and foolish person that would put any money on the Africans winning this weekend.