File photo. Stephen Perofeta training with the All Blacks. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coach Scott Robertson has opted for Stephen Perofeta at fullback for his first test side of the year, dropping Beauden Barrett to the bench.
The front row of Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax was probably the easiest group to predict, with captain Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu not far behind. Tuipulotu did have a slight question mark hanging over him due to his knee injury, but that has clearly passed the medical tests required.
The real talking point was the make up of the loose forwards, with Samipeni Finau getting the nod ahead of Ethan Blackadder at blindside. He joins Dalton Papali'i and Ardie Savea, with Savea playing his first meaningful game since the end of his season in Japan Rugby League One for the Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
TJ Perenara has won the race for the hotly contested halfback spot, he'll pair up with Damian McKenzie in the inside backs. Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane are unsurprisingly pairing in the midfield, while the All Black strike weapons out wide are Sevu Reece and Mark Tele'a, both of whom have come off very good Super Rugby Pacific seasons in teams with wildly divergent success records.
All Blacks v England
Kick-off: 7.05pm, Saturday 6 July
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
All Blacks: 1, Ethan de Groot 2. Codie Taylor 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Scott Barrett (captain) 5, Patrick Tuipulotu, 6. Samipeni Finau 7. Dalton Papali'i 8. Ardie Savea (vice captain) 9. TJ Perenara 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Mark Tele'a 12. Jordie Barrett 13. Rieko Ioane 14. Sevu Reece 15. Stephen Perofeta
Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Tupou Vaa'i 20. Luke Jacobson 21. Finlay Christie 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Beauden Barrett
England: 15. George Furbank, 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13. Henry Slade (vice-captain), 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Tommy Freeman, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Alex Mitchell 8. Ben Earl (vice-captain), 7. Sam Underhill, 6. Chandler Cunningham-South, 5. George Martin, 4. Maro Itoje (vice-captain), 3. Will Stuart, 2. Jamie George (captain), 1. Joe Marler (vice-captain)
Bench: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Fin Baxter, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Tom Curry, 21. Ben Spencer, 22. Fin Smith, 23. Ollie Sleightholme
