All Blacks coach names his team to face South Africa for their Rugby World Cup opening game

Record ID: 1433124

  • Title: All Blacks coach names his team to face South Africa for their Rugby World Cup opening game
  • Date: 19th September 2019
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 19, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH, STEVE HANSEN, HOLDING A NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH, STEVE HANSEN, SAYING: "I don't think we've got a number one starting 15, I think we've got a group of 23 players that we'll use depending on who we're playing and what the opposition are and they're all chop and change that was our point. And our selecting our 31 we wanted to be able to have the ability to do different things with different people. We never look at, is it important to start, you know, obviously it's important to finish, too. You've got to have people that can do that." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH, STEVE HANSEN, SAYING: "I know there's a lot of talk about how we've never settled on a combination but I think the versatility of this group allows us to play whoever we want and the combination clicks." NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH, STEVE HANSEN, BEING SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS HEAD CAPTAIN, KIERAN READ, SAYING: "Look, we'll wait and see to what it brings, but we know that World Cup's different to a regular game and South Africa in our first opening game of the tournament is going to be one of those bigger games you've played over your career. So I'm really looking forward to that, you know, an awesome challenge to face." RUGBY FIELD WITH NEW ZEALAND RUGBY TEAM MEMBERS ENTERING FIELD OFFICIAL RUGBY WORLD CUP BALLS ON GRASS MEDIA ON SIDE OF PITCH AS ALL BLACKS TRAIN ALL BLACKS RUNNING IN A GROUP HOOKER CODDIE TAYLOR WALKING ON PITCH PLAYERS PASSING BALL FIRST FIVE-EIGHTS BEAUDEN BARRETT (RIGHT) PASSING BALL WITH HALFBACK TJ PERENARA TRAINING TAKING PLACE CAMERAMAN BEAUDEN BARRETT PASSING BALL ALL BLACKS COACH STEVE HANSEN WALKING ON FIELD BARRETT TYING SHOE LACES, HANSEN WALKING TO HIM SECOND FIVE-EIGHTS ANTON LIENERT-BROWN STRETCHING AND PLAYING BALL LOOSE FORWARD KIERAN READ PASSING BALL VARIOUS OF PLAYERS PLAYING GAMES AS PART OF TRAINING
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2019 11:43
  • Keywords: Rugby Japan World Cup New Zealand All Blacks Hansen
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Rugby Union,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AXBOJLR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen on Thursday (September 19) named his team for the All Blacks' blockbuster opening clash with South Africa at the Rugby World Cup, highlighting the squad's versatility and depth.
    Beauden Barrett will start at fullback in their Pool B opener against the Springboks in Yokohama on Saturday (September 21), with Richie Mo'unga having been retained at flyhalf.
    Barrett has played most of his career at flyhalf but has been shifted to fullback this year in order to accommodate Mo'unga, though he did start the All Blacks' final 92-7 warm up win over Tonga in the number 10 jersey.
    Ryan Crotty and Anton Lienert-Brown are the centre pairing. After recovering from a broken thumb, Crotty played his first test of the year against Tonga and Hansen believes his all-round contribution is well-suited for the Boks.
    Captain Kieran Read called the upcoming South Africa match "an awesome challenge" that will be one of the bigger games players will play over their career.
    (Production: Kwiyeon Ha, Lucien Libert, Chris Gallagher)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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