Aaron Cruden will start at flyhalf for the All Blacks in Saturday's clash against Wales in Auckland.
In a match 23 that boasts 720 caps, Cruden will fill the No 10 jersey vacated by Dan Carter, while loose forward Ardie Savea and centre Seta Tamanivalu could make their All Blacks Test debuts off the bench.
'While the opposition might believe that we're vulnerable because it's our first Test and we have lost some experienced players, we don't have that mindset,' coach Steve Hansen said. 'We have some very excited players who have trained well during the week and are getting the opportunity to make a statement about who they are and what the All Blacks jersey means to them.'
All Blacks – 15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody.
Subs: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Seta Tamanivalu.
Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty_Images
