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| | Monday, 10 June, 2002, 23:53 GMT 00:53 UK New Zealand ring the changes MacDonald is one of 13 Canterbury players in the side New Zealand have made 10 changes to the side that beat Italy on Saturday for this weekend's Test against Ireland in Dunedin. Just three of the backs - wingers Doug Howlett and Caleb Ralph and standoff Andrew Mehrtens - remain from the starting 15 that ran in nine tries against Italy. Captain Reuben Thorne and lock Norm Maxwell are the only forwards who have been retained. An unprecedented 13 members of the starting line-up for the Ireland match are from the Super 12 champions Canterbury Crusaders. These include fullback Leon MacDonald, No 8 Scott Robertson and prop Greg Somerville, who did not play in the All Blacks' 64-10 win over Italy on Saturday. The side features 10 of the players who started when the All Blacks beat Ireland 40-29 in their last meeting, in Dublin last November. MacDonald will play his 150th first-class match at Carisbrook, where he made his test debut for New Zealand against Scotland two years ago. Saturday's game will be MacDonald's 14th cap.
Tana Umaga returns for his 38th test after overcoming a knee injury that dogged him during the Super 12. Should he take the field from the bench, Wellington winger Jonah Lomu will be chasing his fifth try in consecutive tests, matching the feat he achieved at the 1999 Rugby World Cup when he scored in New Zealand's first five matches. Another try would also move Lomu into clear third on the all-time New Zealand test try-scoring list ahead of former winger John Kirwan. Lomu has 35 tries from 56 appearances which is seven less than the number of games played by Kirwan during his career. New Zealand: Leon MacDonald, Doug Howlett, Tana Umaga, Aaron Mauger, Caleb Ralph, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall, Scott Robertson, Richard McCaw, Reuben Thorne (captain), Norm Maxwell, Chris Jack, Greg Somerville, Mark Hammett, Dave Hewett. Reserves: Tom Willis, Joe McDonnell, Taine Randell, Marty Holah, Byron Kelleher, Daryl Gibson, Jonah Lomu. | | See also:  22 Jul 02 | International 08 Jun 02 | International 08 Jun 02 | International 04 Jun 02 | International Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top International stories now: Links to more International stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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