Kiwis look to salvage pride against Wales

WHEN New Zealand step on to the Millennium Stadium pitch against Wales today, they will not only be looking to grab their first win on their European tour but also seek to extend history.

The All Blacks, who lost to England 31-28 at Twickenham two weeks ago before drawing 20-20 with France in Paris last Saturday, have not lost to Wales for 49 years.

New Zealand coach John Mitchell picked 12 uncapped players for the tour and has stuck to his word of giving all 26 in the squad a run by naming five new caps in the starting line up.

“We always intended to play everyone on tour,” Mitchell said of his decision to give debuts to centre Regan King, loose forwards Rodney So’oialo and Daniel Braid, and front row forwards Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock.

“This series of matches is giving immense experience to the individuals involved in the side,” he said. “To be playing in such massive venues as Twickenham, the Stade de France and the Millennium Stadium with a lot of pressure on their backs is hugely beneficial to the development of these players’ careers.”

Despite Mitchell’s assurances the players chosen for the tour were those who performed during New Zealand’s domestic provincial competition, it is obvious that his eyes are firmly set on next year’s World Cup.

By leaving 21 players at home to recover from surgery or long term injuries, Mitchell has now developed a squad of about 50 players who are competing for berths in the World Cup team in 11 months in Australia.

In Genoa, world champions Australia, still smarting from successive defeats to Ireland and England, will expect to return to winning ways when they face struggling Italy today.

Australia have reshuffled their backs for Saturday’s test against Italy in Genoa, switching centre Elton Flatley to fly-half in place of Stephen Larkham.

Larkham broke two bones in a hand in the world champions’ defeat by England last weekend at Twickenham and has been forced to return home.

Flatley, who scored two tries against England while playing as much in the fly-half position as at centre, takes over the key role with kicker Matt Burke moving from fullback to take his place in the centre.

Stirling Mortlock takes the number 15 jersey with Scott Staniforth returning to the wing position he occupied against Ireland.

Italy coach John Kirwan is still experimenting as he tries to find the right mix and he makes nine changes to the side beaten 36-6 last week by Argentina.

The Azzurri, already clear underdogs for this encounter, will be without fly-half and their main source of points Diego Dominguez who is injured.

And in Paris France coach Bernard Laporte is refusing to let his team drop their guard after this month’s top class contests with New Zealand and South Africa as they prepare to take on Canada on Saturday.

Canada do not belong to the elite of world rugby although they produced some impressive performances in the past.

But, after a comfortable 30-10 win over South Africa and a 20-20 draw with the All Blacks, Laporte sees the game as another “control test” for his side which he describes as “a car being run in”.

“There are no easy games. You only can say that a game has been easy after you have won it and sometimes a win is not enough,” Laporte said.

“Canadians are tough competitors. They will never give up, they never take a beating and sometimes they win.”

Scotland complete their November test series with a game against Fiji tomorrow looking for their third consecutive victory at Murrayfield a key psychological boost in the build up to next year’s World Cup.