All Blacks drop Lomu and Umaga from squad
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.
Umaga’s omission appears to be injury-related after he suffered further damage to his right knee in the match against Fiji on June 29.
Christian Cullen, who like Lomu had a poor Super 12 season with the under-performing Hurricanes, has been named at fullback in place of Leon MacDonald.
MacDonald has been omitted from the squad after suffering from mild concussion following a head clash during the Fiji match. Ben Blair, who came into the squad as cover for MacDonald, is named on the bench.
The forward pack is made up entirely of Crusaders’ players, with a notable omission being Auckland Blue Kees Meeuws, who failed to make the squad despite scoring two tries against Fiji.
Meanwhile, Justin Marshall retains his place at scrum-half ahead of the combative Byron Kelleher.
NEW ZEALAND: Christian Cullen (Wellington), Doug Howlett (Auckland), Mark Robinson (Canterbury), Aaron Mauger (Canterbury), Caleb Ralph (Canterbury), Andrew Mehrtens (Canterbury), Justin Marshall (Canterbury), Scott Robertson (Canterbury), Richard McCaw (Canterbury), Reuben Thorne (captain, Canterbury), Norm Maxwell (Canterbury), Chris Jack (Canterbury), Greg Somerville (Canterbury), Mark Hammett (Canterbury), Dave Hewett (Canterbury).
Substitutes: Tom Willis (Otago), Joe McDonnell (Otago), Simon Maling (Otago), Taine Randell (Otago), Byron Kelleher (Otago), Daryl Gibson (Canterbury), Ben Blair (Canterbury).
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