The first Guinness Six Nations after a World Cup often sees a changing of the guard, with new faces emerging as a fresh four-year cycle begins.
The Kiwi head coach selected Taine Basham, Josh Navidi, and the uncapped Tommy Reffell as his options at openside flankers and excluded the Ospreys' openside.
EPCR citing commissioners have been busy as three players have been cited after round one in Europe, including Will Muir of Bath.
The son of ex-Samoa star Mike and nephew of former All Black Tana will now fly out to Portugal on Wednesday for a week’s warm-weather training ahead of England’s February 2 opener in France.
As they ready themselves to head home, here are some decidedly unofficial gongs to hand out…
Sport doesn’t always get the scripts it deserves. If it did, Don Bradman would have got off the mark in his final Test innings to bring his batting average up to 100, while Usain Bolt would have beaten pantomime villain Justin Gatlin in his final meaningful race.
Wasps have finalised their 48-man squad for the new Gallagher Premiership season with two new faces, however a prop they'd lined up has failed a medical.
Wasps have had a busy first week in their off-season, following Wednesday's seven academy graduations to the first-team with the announcement of their ninth signing for next season.
Wasps have confirmed that Seven Academy players have signed first-team deals ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.
