Fourteen separate 2024 World Rugby Awards were up for grabs in Monaco on Sunday night.
The schedule kicks off on Saturday in London with Steve Borthwick’s England hosting the All Blacks just 16 weeks after the New Zealanders closed out a 2-0 series victory with a 24-17 win in Auckland.
Knowing they effectively had a ‘gimme’ versus minnows Spain on match day three, they rested numerous first-choice players but they will now run out at the DHL Stadium with a team that has 10 alterations from last Tuesday in Stellenbosch.
Three matches are scheduled for Stellenbosch: Ireland vs Georgia (kick-off 2pm local), France vs New Zealand (4:30pm) and South Africa vs Argentina (7pm). Over in Athlone, Wales vs Spain is the opening match (2pm) followed by England vs Fiji (4:30pm) and Australia vs Italy (7pm).
The Kiwis got the show on the road with a 41-34 Pool A win over Wales at Athlone and they have now changed three forwards and two backs for their eagerly anticipated clash with the French.
New Zealand U20 opener their U20 Championship campaign against Wales U20 on Sunday morning (NZST).
The Spanish have the honour of opening the pool the DHL Stadium this Saturday, taking on a French team that didn’t fire on all cylinders in a Six Nations campaign that only merited third place.
The New Zealand squad features 31 of the country's finest young athletes, with selectors having identified plenty of promising talent at the recent U20 Super Rugby tournament played last month in Taupo.
Gregor Townsend and Gary Armstrong reminisce over spearheading an unlikely Five Nations championship win
Munster have 'named' the 2006 team to take on Sale Sharks in a Youtube re-run of their classic Heineken Cup encounter in that year.