All Blacks lose Conrad Smith to injury
Conrad Smith’s hamstring injury has not cleared sufficiently for the Wellington centre to take his place in the All Blacks centre against Canada on Saturday.
As a result, Luke McAlister steps up to fill the number 13 shirt, while Rico Gear is called in to take a spot on the bench.
New Zealand (revised): 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Jerry Collins, 7 Chris Masoe, 6 Reuben Thorne (c), 5 Ross Filipo, 4 Troy Flavell, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Carl Hayman, 18 Rodney So’oialo, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Rico Gear, 22 Leon MacDonald.
Date: Saturday, 16 June
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa), George Ayoub (Australia)
Television match official: Paul Marks (Australia)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
