All Black squad of 30 contains a Weepu shocker

weepu's a big game player and the AB's season doesnt finish till november this year. piri's has time and will be at top for for $nations and EOYT

bit suspect sround the field as well. not uncommon for him to lose possession when going to ground.

What do I think? As a Wallabies fan, I'm very happy!

We all know what Weepu's capable of, but he's had 15 rounds to get himself sorted. That's an entire Super Rugby tournament in years gone by. Henry dropped Weepu before; not sure why he's a protected species now. I can only assume that the selectors don't rate Ellis based on past test match performances.

Last year in the Tri Nations Weepu set up a try with a short pass to one of our forwards. When on song, he does have the vision thing, and the creativity, and Hansen and Richie trust that. So we have to trust them on that basis. Ellis is a very solid player, but Weepu has proven that he can switch on the attacking genius when required and even though he has been short of a gallop this year you have to trust the AB leaders that they know what they are doing. Picking Aaron Smith shows Hansen has good instincts. Kerr-Barlow has been hyped up to the max but his recent game play has been patchy. Weepu has been there and done that, and I think it would be foolish to discard a guy who though literally sick and ill in the RWC Final got us through the quarters and the semi.... TJ Perenera and Aaron Smith will be our starting 9's in a year or so anyway, but the AB mentality is to never lose a game and therefore Weepu got picked.

i kno2 i was being optimistic but it was without kaino's impact that allowed us to beat the AB's last year. Hopefully for you Vito finally ascends into the aggresor role and hopefully for us he doesnt.

Perhaps looking at Barrett to cover 15/10 from the bench?? Dunno really.Initially I thought he was just being taken into the wider squad for a looksee and intro.

I don't quite get it either. Why pick Barrett when you could pick Ellis Weepu (who can play 1st five) and Smith. Cruden and Carter should be the only number 10's.

Very pleasing that Manawatu has 2 in there - not since the 80s have we had a 9, 10 combo from the green and whites ..yet another testament to Rennie's ability

Nick-I think Weepu is an extreme example of the policy I mentioned above;I would have been happy if they had left him out,frankly,but I also give credit that the selectors know a heap more about him and the subject than I do;Clearly they see qualities in him that over-ride their concerns for his troubled Super form.I can accept that. The last game he played fit in black-1/4 Final at RWC-he starred. That must have bought him a Get out Of Gaol Free card ;-)

Ellis probably is blacklisted now. He's part of the old brigade, and they all have a one-way ticket to retirement, with flights to be scheduled in the next 4 years. There is limited room in the team for them, and they've clearly chosen Weepu for his ability to push in the scrum.

I dont disagree with what you say Moaman, I just disagree with selectors who only base their judgement on past performances only. In the case of Weepu, I think when one has lost his starting XV spot in his own (bottom table) club for the last 3 months, one should not be a straight forward pick at international lvel, no matter what was your level last year or 5 years ago. Form is not everything but it has to be taken into account to soem extent. You see, if they had chosen 2 n10 and n9 plus Weepu, i would have understood as its always good to have someone versatile who can play 9 and 10 just in case. The fact there is only one specialist scrum-half in the squad (besides him) doesnt make much sense imo. Again, the AB have a very competitive team, with or without Weeou, its just that I do feel for guys like Ellis who must feel blacklisted no matter how he performs.

Nick; It has been a long-held view that the incumbent must be forced out by the under-study-in NZ at least as long as I can recall.Guys like Ali and Weepu will be given the rope;what they do with it is up to them now.I don't remember us here ever taking too much notice of Super form when picking our first Test teams..this year shouldn't be any different. In Oz,wind the clock back a month or so and Genia wouldn't have been a clear pick for many fans and yet come Saturday v Wales I'm pretty sure he will be in the vanguard of names jotted down.Personally I don't think we have learnt a huge amount yet about Hansen and co...except hints that they will try things.For instance,if Aaron Smith starts at 9 first up...I would class that as very high on the Progressive/Imaginative Selections Scale.I regard that as quite exciting! Old timers like me could be expected to have seen Ellis trotted out with Weepu on the bench until the Irish waters had been tested so to speak.Now it looks as though he has the inside running-depending of course on the makeup of the bench....an issue clouded by the retention of 3 tens in the squad.

I'm from the other side of the ditch, and I think they're nuts for having him there. TKB, Smith and Perenara are the new breed, and they're ready to go now in the case of TKB and Smith. Ellis is performing better than Weepu, and has the combination with Read. Weepu is selected on the back of being the World Cup winner, and hopefully some leadership within the playing group. I can think of no compelling reason coming from his playing form. I would be testing some of the young guys in the Ireland series, and having an experienced HB on the bench. Weepu might be that guy on the grounds of his ability to cover 9 and 10, saving a bench spot, however that means leaving Cruden off the bench. Ellis for 60 then Smith for 20 in the first, then Smith for 60-80 and Ellis on the bench for the second. Depending on how Smith goes, TKB to start the third and Ellis as backup, or Smith to start and TKB on the bench.

Ben May is a massive penalty magnet, especially at scrum time. I think the was the most penalised person in S15 at one point. He's been yellow carded for repeat infringements too, yet isn't a 7. He is a big unit, but hasn't got it together at scrum time yet. The first few scrums against the Tahs showed what he and Toomaga-Allen are capable of, but after that they got beat up.

Tameifuna will struggle at this stage i reckon but i doubt he will play huge minutes. As for Afeaki he is super fit. 11 minutes 3km and 56 seconds 400m an ex water polo player with huge lung capcity who returned after a broken arm to play 80 quality minutes against the Bulls with no rugby under the belt, the guy is probably the fitter then most international props.

Selecting Weepu just sends the wrong message to potential future AB: no matter what you do on the pitch, 'names' have the edge and will keep it no matter how badly they perform on the pitch. I get that PW has always delivered as an AB etc and that this should be taken into account when picking players. But we are talking about possibly the worse n9 of the 5 franchises (might even behind some subs) after 15 weeks of SR, not 2 or 3. True, he will probably turn up against Ireland so what? Ellis, Perenara or Kerr-Barlow needed the opportunity to show they have what it takes to succedd at international level. This is a big big call from Hansen. It tells a lot about the guy.

Woodcock Hore/Mealamu O Franks A Williams S Whitelock Thompson/Vito McCaw Read. Pretty much a standard All Black forward pack that played plenty of games together. Retallick and Cane in for Thorn and Kaino, still they will start the first test with a very experienced forward pack with Retallick probably coming from the pine.

Spot on mate. I think Ali Williams has not done enough this year and Jason Eaton has looked pretty good. I would start with Retallick and Whitelock though.

Thanks for that guys. Do you reckon the big boppers will have the lungs for Test Rugby? One thing for sure is McKintosh and May are not weak in the scrum but both have a good work rate around the park. I know Whopper already has a couple of tests for the All Blacks....wonder if May has an Australian born grand parent?