All Blacks Look To Continue European Surge Against Wales

After a scrappy win against the Italians, the All Blacks now move to Cardiff to try and take down the Welsh.
This will prove to be the All Blacks biggest test so far on their northern tour, with the Welsh feeling that they deserved a place in last years World Cup final.
Pre game comments from Wales' defence coach will surely have the All Blacks fired up, but with Steve Hansen revealing his A team for the first time on the northern tour, one would have to think that the All Blacks will again be too strong for this determined Welsh side.

What Wales Will Look To Do:
The Welsh will again look to their defence to try and stop a rampant All Blacks attack which, even though lacks a certain playmaker, will again prove to the be the difference between the two sides. A passionate Welsh side will however bring a lot of physicality up front and look to disrupt the All Blacks pill, as the Italians did last week. The All Blacks will therefore need to provide a lot more protection for Aaron Smith at the breakdown to ensure that he can continue to get quick ball away to Aaron Cruden and the All Black backline. Wales will rate their game up front. They always have, and this is where they believe they can out muscle the All Blacks. What the AB's need to be aware of is this; Wales believe they can win this game. They will go into it with the mindset that if they stick their guns and execute their game plan then they will be able to knock over the All Blacks in front of 80'000 passionate Welsh supporters. The All Blacks will therefore need to step up their game another level from their previous two encounters and execute their game plan with perfection.

5 Who Need Big Games:

Aaron Smith

Aaron Cruden

Andrew Hore

Liam Messam

Richie McCaw

All Blacks Scrape Away With Win In Rome

After a complete demolition of Scotland at Murrayfield, Steve Hansen made 14 changes to his side to face Italy, with Julian Savea the only one backing up from the week before. Whilst that dreaded R word came to everyones minds when the team was announced, the All Blacks managed a comfortable 42-10 win in the end, although it wasn't all that easy, nor was it a very attractive brand of footy.

The Italians brought a new kind of passion to the game in Rome, something we haven't seen from the them in a long time. They really stepped up their game since the last time the two sides met 2 years ago in Milan. This somewhat shocked the All Blacks, as they were slow to get themselves into the game. The Italians targeted the breakdown, and their physicality in that area caused some headaches for the All Blacks forward pack, and also halfback Aaron Smith, who was put under constant pressure by the Italians, therefore resulting in slower ball for the backs to work with. This also meant that the All Black backline was often starting on the back foot, meaning that the Italian backline had more time to come up and put early pressure on Aaron Cruden so he couldn't clear it to the threats out wide.

However, when we did manage to get fast front foot ball, Cruden took it to the line effectively and managed to set up his outsides well. Although they were quiet early on, wingers Hosea Gear and Julian Savea started to assert themselves on the game in the second half, not only scoring tries, but taking the ball to the line off the shoulder of Cruden and Nonu and setting up support players for the tries. Beauden Barret was solid in his first start at fullback, managing to control the early aerial assult from the Italians well. He attacked the line with speed, but found himself nudging the ball through a few too many times. Cory Jane was a standout when he came on at fullback, constantly taking the ball to the line and breaking through the Italian defense. Expect to see him back on the right wing for the test against Wales at Millennium Stadium, as the All Blacks go back to their A team for the last two tests.

The Standouts:

Kieran Read

Tony Woodcock

Julian Savea

Brodie Retallick

Cory Jane

Probable Starting XV for Wales:

1. Tony Woodcock
2. Keven Mealamu
3. Owen Franks
4. Luke Romano
5. Sam Whitelock
6. Liam Messam
7. Richie McCaw (c)
8. Kieran Read

9. Aaron Smith
10. Dan Carter
11. Julian Savea
12. Ma'a Nonu
13. Conrad Smith
14. Cory Jane/Hosea gear
15. Israel Dagg/Cory Jane

16. Andrew Hore
17. Wyatt Crockett
18. Ben Franks
19. Brodie Retallick
20. Victor Vito
21. Piri Weepu
22. Aaron Cruden
23. Beauden Barret

All Blacks Look To Start Off Northern Tour With A Win At Murrayfield

The last time we witnessed the All Blacks play this year, they put together a very scrappy 18-18 draw with Australia. Now as they embark into the Northern Hemisphere, Richie McCaw and his men will be looking to not only improve on their well below par performance in Brisbane, but they will be looking to get their Northern Tour underway with a strong win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

What The Scotts Will Bring To The Table:

Scotland will know that they will struggle to match the All Blacks for strength and physicality, so the battle up front won’t be too high on their agenda. The All Blacks are simply too strong at the breakdown, and despite not having the physical presence of Kieran Read and Liam Messam for the opening test, the All Blacks will still target the Scotts in that area and look to continue to produce quick go forward pill for the backline to work with. This means that the Scotts will look to not over commit at the breakdown and have their loose forwards hang off the side of the ruck and look to put constant pressure on Dan Carter and disrupt our back play.

The relatively inexperienced midfield combination of Tamati Ellison and Ben Smith will look to be exploited by the Scottish defence all day, as they are aware that they do not bare the same physical presence of Nonu and Smith the Scotts will look to run heavy traffic their way all day on attack. Scotland has to be confident in their own attacking abilities if they’re to have any chance of putting digits on the board. When they get it right, it can work very well. When they don’t, it’s all over red rover, and its long night on defence for the lads.

5 Who Need Big Games:

Piri Weepu- Again under pressure to perform. What else is new? 

 Ali Williams- Selected on past form. Needs to repay the selectors faith.

Israel Dagg- Expect a somewhat aerial assault early on from the Scotts.

Adam Thompson- Looks to be on the out so needs to show he’s still able to produce something good.

Tawera Kerr-Barlow- On debut and has been talked up. Needs to show that he deserves to be there.

Kick off from Murrayfield is at at 3:25am tomorrow morning live on Sky Sport 1