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LIVE: All Blacks vs Wallabies | Bledisloe Cup II

Hunter Paisami of the Wallabies charges forward during the Bledisloe Cup match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies at Sky Stadium on October 11, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the Bledisloe Cup clash between the All Blacks and Wallabies at Coopers Catch Park in Auckland.

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Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).

The All Blacks side features the selection of another new cap, with prop Alex Hodgman set to make his test debut from the bench, while two other new All Blacks, lock Tupou Vaa’i and winger Caleb Clarke, are making their first test start in their second tests.

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Healthspan Elite Performance of the Week | Bledisloe Cup | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

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Healthspan Elite Performance of the Week | Bledisloe Cup | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

Hodgman is one of several changes in the matchday 23 forwards, with hooker Dane Coles starting and Codie Taylor on the bench, while prop Nepo Laulala returns via the bench alongside Hodgman.

Lock Sam Whitelock is going through head injury assessment (HIA) protocols and was unavailable for selection, so Tupou will start alongside Patrick Tuipulotu.

As well, there is a welcome return via the bench for 36-test Scott Barrett, after a four-month injury layoff.

In the backs, Anton Lienert-Brown has been named at centre, while Rieko Ioane will provide impact from the bench.

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George Bridge, who suffered a serious pectoral injury in training on Wednesday, makes way for Clarke on the left wing.

Beauden Barrett resumes his position at fullback after his late withdrawal last week, with Damien McKenzie on the bench.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, meanwhile, has made four changes to the Wallabies side as they look to improve on their draw in Sunday’s Bledisloe Cup showdown with the All Blacks in Auckland.

Hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa and blindside flanker Ned Hanigan come into the starting side, while Queensland duo Liam Wright and Jordan Petaia are new faces on the bench for the Eden Park clash.

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It will be Paenga-Amosa’s fifth test and first against New Zealand, replacing Folau Fainga’a who paid the price for the Wallabies stuttering lineout.

Hanigan will start at six, with Harry Wilson shifting to No.8 and Pete Samu axed, while Wright has taken Rob Valetini’s place on the bench.

The starting backline remains unchanged, with Tom Banks holding on to the fullback jersey ahead of veteran Dane Haylett-Petty.

Game-breaker Petaia has overcome a hip injury but Hunter Paisami has held his starting spot in the centres.

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J
JW 4 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

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