A little info before the preview...
Argentina today named their team for the one-off rugby test against the All Blacks at Jade Stadium on Saturday night.
The starting 15 are unchanged from the lineup which beat Counties-Manukau 70-26 in the tour opener on Sunday.
Argentina: Bernardo Stortoni, Gonzalo Camardon, Jose Orengo, Diego Albanese, Lesandro Arbizu (captain), Felipe Contepomi, Augustin Pichot, Gonzalo Longo, Rolando Martin, Alejandro Allub, Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, Santiago Phelan, Omar Hasan, Federico Mendez, Roberto Grau.
Reserves: Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Gonzalo Quesada, Jose Nunez Piossek, Lucas Ostiglia, Martin Durand, Mauricio Reggiardo, Mario Ledesma.
Coach Wayne Smith defended his juggling act today after making six changes and a positional switch to the All Blacks for Saturday's one-off rugby test against Argentina.
As forecasted through his line-up at training yesterday, Jonah Lomu, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall and Taine Randell return to the team after missing last Saturday's 50-6 win over Samoa.
Wellington's Jerry Collins will make his debut at No 8 and Carl Hayman, who became the 1000th All Black after coming on as a substitute against Samoa, starts the match at tighthead prop.
Last week's No 8 Ron Cribb and replacement second five-eighth Mark Ranby missed the cut and will play for their clubs this weekend.
Lomu's inclusion means Jeff Wilson, who scored one of the seven All Black tries from the left wing against Samoa, will revert to the more familiar right wing.
The line-up, selected carefully to graft newcomers among the experienced players, will allow Smith and fellow selectors Tony Gilbert and Peter Thorburn to see all 24 squad members in action before they pick a top 15 for next week's tougher assignment against France.
``This is the chance to look at combinations and see how we shape up for the rest of the season,'' Smith said today.
He denied any conflict with his intention of installing some traditional All Blacks' values into his squad with the less traditional aspect of gifting jerseys by rotating so many players, as he did at the start of last season.
Smith copped some barbs for picking Wilson ahead of Lomu against Samoa.
Some former All Blacks have been prickly about Smith's player-rotation, accusing him of devaluing the All Blacks jersey by giving them away too easily.
``It's exactly the same when we were playing. We don't have touring squads any more,'' Smith responded today.
``In my days there were 30 All Blacks on tour and some played midweek and some played on Saturdays.
``You've got a chance to stake your claim midweek to get a spot on a Saturday. I don't see it any different.
``In fact, we have fewer All Blacks these days than they did in the old days.''
Since rugby turned professional in 1996, the All Blacks' long tours, where budding test players gained experience, have diminished.
Testing grounds for young or new players has now switched to the early home internationals against such nations as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Argentina.
``Look at the 1987 World Cup. A lot of success of that was created by the Baby Blacks (All Blacks selected from those who didn't tour South Africa with the Cavaliers) being thrown into test rugby. Was that demeaning the jersey?'' Smith asked.
``What it did was create another core of players who were up to test level, who put the heat on experienced players and came through to be the only (New Zealand) team to win the World Cup.
``It (criticism) doesn't really worry me because all we've got to do is win. It doesn't make any difference whether people like me or not, all I've got to do is win.
``We're trying to replicate a bit of what the All Blacks used to do and that is have touring squads give opportunities to people to keep the heat on -- make them earn their spot. It's a traditional approach rather than a new approach.''
Smith said critics underestimated the fact that Wilson and Doug Howlett were worthy All Black wingers.
New Zealand:
Leon MacDonald, Jeff Wilson, Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu, Pita Alatini, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall, Jerry Collins, Taine Randell, Norm Maxwell, Troy Flavell, Reuben Thorne, Carl Hayman, Anton Oliver (captain), Carl Hoeft.
Reserves: Mark Hammett, Greg Somerville, Chris Jack, Marty Holah, Doug Howlett, Tony Brown, Byron Kelleher.
