All Blacks drop Lomu and Umaga from squad

JONAH LOMU and his Wellington Hurricanes team-mate Tana Umaga have been dropped from the New Zealand squad named yesterday for the opening Tri-Nations clash of the season against Australia.

Both players will be disappointed that they failed to make the 22-player squad for Saturday’s match in Christchurch which doubles up as the first of two Bledisloe Cup ties.

Lomu’s place is taken by Canterbury Crusaders’ Caleb Ralph, while fellow Crusader Mark Robinson has been named as outside centre instead of Umaga. The Crusaders are well represented in the starting line-up, with 13 of the 15 playing for the Super 12 champions.