Fledgling international Jordie Barrett will start at fullback for New Zealand in the third Test against the British and Irish Lions in Auckland on Saturday as the All Blacks turn to rookie power in a backline shake up for the series decider.
Barrett’s Wellington Hurricanes teammate Ngani Laumape gets his first Test start after making his debut 25 minutes into last week’s second Test when Sonny Bill Williams was red-carded.
Blockbusting wing Julian Savea wins a recall after failing to even make the bench in the first two Tests while Israel Dagg moves from fullback to wing to accommodate Barrett.
Second Test wings Waisake Naholo and Rieko Ioane have been dropped following the Lions 24-21 victory to level the series in Wellington last weekend.
Barrett, the younger brother of fly-half Beauden and lock Scott Barrett, only has 17 minutes of Test experience after taking the field as a replacement late in the All Blacks run away win over Samoa before the Lions series began.
With the Lions battling to win a series against New Zealand for only the second time, the deciding final Test “is going to be a cracker,” Hansen said when naming his line up Thursday.
“It now comes down to this Saturday — the winner takes all — and that’ll create its own unique pressures and it’s going to be interesting to see how both sides cope with it.”
The All Blacks have been scrambling to shore up their backline since the first Test which they managed to win 30-15 despite injuries removing seasoned fullback Ben Smith and centre Ryan Crotty in the first half.
The midfield stocks worsened in the second Test when Williams earned a four-week suspension for his shoulder charge on Lions wing Anthony Watson.
Dagg, who started on the right wing in the first Test before replacing Smith at fullback for the second, returns to the right wing with Savea, boasting an impressive 46 tries from 53 Tests, recalled from the wilderness to replace Ioane on the left.
Hansen has kept the same starting forward pack and bench from the first two Tests which includes captain Kieran Read who will become the seventh All Black to play his milestone 100th Test.
NEW ZEALAND (15-1): Jordie Barrett; Israel Dagg, Anton Lienert-Brown, Ngani Laumape, Julian Savea; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Jerome Kaino; Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick; Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody.
REPLACEMENTS: Nathan Harris, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Aaron Cruden, Malakai Fekitoa.
