McCaw left on the bench
Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:05
All Black captain Richie McCaw has been named in the Canterbury squad, to take on Tasman in their Air New Zealand quarterfinal on Friday, but he will play off the bench.
McCaw will provide valuable loose forward cover after No.8 Mose Tuiali'i was this week ruled out for the rest of the season with a neck injury.
McCaw has not played since leading the All Blacks to their thrilling 28-24 victory to claim the Tri-Nations trophy and Bledisloe Cup in Brisbane on September 13.
In other changes to last week's squad which beat Southland 25-6 in Invercargill, Paul Williams returns for the first time after recovering from a knee injury suffered in the Round Seven victory over Northland four weeks ago.
Williams will start on the right wing, with James Paterson, who played in the No.14 jersey last week, moving to the left wing.
Isaac Ross, who last week started on the bench, will partner Michael Paterson at lock, and the pair will need to be on top of their games to counter the line-out threat of All Black Brad Thorn, who is making his first Tasman start.
All Black prop Greg Somerville, involved with Canterbury for the first time this season off the bench last week, starts at tighthead, with Wyatt Crockett, rested against Southland, coming back to loosehead.
Casey Laulala, who made a big impression off the bench against Southland after recovering from a broken arm, will team up with Tim Bateman in the midfield.
Kieran Read will again captain the team from No.8.
George Whitelock and James Paterson will be playing their blazer games (12th) for Canterbury. George's brother, Adam, will also qualify for a blazer if he takes the field.
Canterbury coach Rob Penney is looking for his team to continue their momentum in the play-offs after winning nine consecutive games since their opening loss to Manawatu.
Canterbury: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Paul Williams, 13
Casey Laulala, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 James Paterson, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 George Whitelock, 6 Hayden Hopgood, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Owen Franks, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Tyson Keats, 21 Hamish Gard, 22 Adam Whitelock.
Date: Friday, October 10
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Jonathon White
Touch judges: Chris Pollock, Keith Brown
Television match official: Kelvin Deaker
