Rotation Resurgance - 10 Changes To the Side That Crushed England

Coach Henry and the selectors have named their side to take on France at Lyon this weekend, and somewhat surprisingly it contains 10 changes from the side that crushed England at Twickenham last weekend (I can hear the cries of "arrogance" from the Aussie media around me as I write). I guess they wish that they had the luxury of being able to pick from such depth - the return home of Vickerman, and the doubts over Larkham's fitness, amongst other things, will not be helping in the campaign to emerge victorious from the Northern Hemisphere end of season tour.

But onto more important things...10 changes to the side to take on France this weekend. Most importantly, the front row that demolished France is returning with Hayman (one of the best performances from a New Zealand prop in a long time last week), Woodcock and Oliver making up the front row. With the introduction of Oliver, I am sure no one will question the pack strength at scrum time, however the lineout may suffer as this is not Anton's strongest point. Add to this the inclusion of two, that's right two new locks this week - Ryan and Williams return to test football. This is a huge call along with the new hooker and I am sure that the lineout will be a focal point for the French team in combating the All Blacks. Rounding out the forward pack is Captain Fantastic of course, assisted by the first string loose forward combination of Collins and So'oialo. No worries there - So'oialo will have a chance to redeem himself for losing his rag at Rustenberg.

Piri Weepu comes in at halfback, and this is probably a safe change with not much being lost by the absence of Kelleher who is, still, clearly the first choice halfback. In the back line Carter returns - of course. Mercurial as he is, and central to New Zealand's chances of winning the World Cup, he will have to produce another stellar performance this weekend for what is shaping up to be the sternest test match for the All Blacks on tour. Unusually, Henry and the selectors have paired him up with Luke McAlister and Conrad Smith. This makes for a new centre combination that is really untested, and Smith of course is making a return from a sickening injury to his leg that left it in one piece only due to the presence of his sock. He has had a good domestic season for Wellington, however this will be a pressure cooker test for him to return to the Black jersey. Let's hope the defence is more robust than it was against England in midfield as the French sport a pretty good midfield.

Out wide Sivivatu returns to the left wing, and the Fijian flyer Joe Rokocoko moves to the right wing, as he did when Gear was replaced during the England game. At full back, Leon MacDonald returns to the starting line up. I don't think that there will be much missed by these changes, and possibly the All Blacks will be stronger at the back for the presence of MacDonald as Mils did not have such a great game at fullback last week.

The reserves have not yet been named, however Eaton has not yet played on tour and it is likely that he will be named to ride the rimu according to some punters. I doubt the wisdom of this if it does indeed transpire as if things turn to custard in the lineout having Robinson or Jack to turn to if needed would be a better option - Eaton hasn't had much game time of late - and has the most bogun of hair dos - I guess that might be a good reason to put him on the field as the French are likely to be offended or just plain scared of someone with a mullet and a mou like that!

Massive changes to the team and this will make it an exciting game. If the All Blacks are victorious, and the lineout functions, this will be a great result with RWC 2007 just around the corner provided that the linout functions well enough. Again the All Blacks will be faced by a rugby public that want to see improvement in key areas, not just a win. This will be a fascinating game to watch and I cannot wait for kick off, or for the rest of the team to be anounced.

Perhaps the biggest gamble, and Henry has conceded this, is the midfield pairing not before seen at test level. While the players have played at that level, they have not done so together. This is possibly the one and only time they will be able to test such a combination, but for the 'biggest test of the year' according to the coaching staff, one must wonder about the wisdom of making that call now. All will be revealed in due course...