All three Barrett brothers to start for NZ against Canada
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett will become the first trio of brothers to appear for the All Blacks in a World Cup match after they were named to start for the three-times world champions against Canada in their Pool B clash in Oita on Wednesday.
They will also be the first trio of brothers to start in the same World Cup match since Elisi, Manu and Fe’ao Vunipola represented Tonga against Scotland in 1995.
The three Pisi brothers – Ken, Tusi and George – all played for Samoa against South Africa in 2015 but only Ken started that game.
Beauden will start at fullback in a surprising selection, given Hansen had hinted before the tournament that he might rotate the two-times World Player of the Year with Richie Mo’unga at flyhalf during the pool matches.
He has preferred Barrett and Mo’unga to operate in tandem as dual playmakers but the pair are the only flyhalves in the squad and Hansen had said he would use utility backs in his side to cover if one got injured in pool matches.
The All Blacks are projected to win Pool B having beaten the other major contender South Africa in their opening game in Yokohama on September 21.
They had a long lay-off between the Springboks match and the game against Canada and next face Namibia in Tokyo on Sunday before playing Italy in Toyota City on October 12.
Jack Goodhue has returned from a hamstring injury that kept him out for almost two months and will link with Sonny Bill Williams in the midfield.
Hansen also shook up his back three combination with Rieko Ioane selected on the left wing after being dropped for George Bridge in the Bledisloe Cup match against Australia in Auckland last month.
Ioane, who has scored 23 tries in 26 Tests, has been battling for form this year and was given the chance to prove he can challenge for a position in the big games.
“We are looking forward to the contest with Canada,” Hansen said in a statement on Monday. “Our aim is to win the next two Pool matches against Canada and Namibia, as well as continuing to grow our game and manage the workload across the group.
“With two games four days apart, it’s obvious that we need to use our whole squad.
“Whilst there’s a huge amount of energy and excitement amongst the whole team about what lies ahead, this week there has been a real focus on ourselves and our own standards.”
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Jordie Barrett, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Atu Moli.
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Ofa Tuungafasi, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Ryan Crotty, 23 Ben Smith.
Date: Wednesday, October 2
Venue: Oita Stadium, Oita Prefecture
Kick-off: 19.15 (06.15 Canada Eastern time; 10.15 GMT; 23.15 NZ time)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referee: Pascal Gauzere (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
