France veterans face All Blacks:

France have recalled Christian Califano, Olivier Magne and Thomas Castaignede for Saturday's first Test against New Zealand in Auckland.
Les Bleus will award five new caps as the top four clubs are still involved in championship play-offs, making leading players unavailable.

Squad captain Raphael Ibanez, the Wasps hooker, is likely to be a replacement in both Tests after a long season.

Second row Pascal Pape skippers the side at Eden Park instead.

Califano, who has resurrected his career at English Premiership side Gloucester, has not added to his 69 caps in four years

Magne, 34, won the last of his 86 caps in the 2006 Six Nations and Castaignede, 32, has missed out because of injury in the last 12 months.


France:
Thomas Castaignede; Julien Laharrague, Arnaud Mignardi, Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, Benjamin Thiery; Benjamin Boyet, Nicolas Durand; Christian Califano, Sebastien Bruno, Nicolas Mas; Pascal Pape (capt), Julien Pierre; Gregory Le Corvec, Olivier Magne, Sebastien Chabal

Replacements:
Raphael Ibanez, Franck Montanella, Olivier Olibeau, Damien Chouly, Mickael Forest, Nicolas Laharrague, Ludovic Valbon

Ireland A 22-50 NZ Maori :

NZ Maori: (24) 50
Tries: Gear (2), Paku, Ellison, May (2), Bruce
Cons: Ellison (5), Sweeney
Pen: Ellison

Ireland A: (12) 22
Tries: Cave (2), Earls, Gannon
Con: Sexton

Ireland A's hopes of making the Churchill Cup final were ended as the New Zealand Maori ran in seven tries in a one-sided contest at Sandy Park.

The Irish led early on with tries from Darren Cave and Keith Earls split by a Maori score from Hosea Gear.

However, tries from Shannon Paku and Tamati Ellison helped the Maori take a 24-12 lead at the interval.

Gear, Ben May (two) and Callum Bruce added further Maori tries while Cave and David Gannon replied for the Irish.

The Maori, who will now face England in Saturday's final at Twickenham, were lethal in open space and cut the Irish to ribbons with some dazzling rugby.

Ireland A made a great start when Cave crossed with just two minutes on the clock after a fine pass from Johnny Sexton.

Fly-half Sexton slotted the conversion, only for the Maori to respond swiftly with an Ellison penalty.

Superb vision from Paku then saw the Maori creep into the lead with the full-back chipping through Ireland's backline and Gear was on hand to touch down.

Ireland hit back when Keith Earls slipped through several tackles and strolled over, with the sin-binning of May for an off-the-ball tackle further aiding their cause.

But they could not take advantage as Paku drove over from close range after slick footwork from Rua Tipoki.

Ireland A scrum-half Frank Murphy followed May into the sin-bin for straying offside and Ellison then darted around several tackles to further stretch the Maori's lead.

Gear added his second with a sublime finish and May then added two more tries for the Maori.

The Irish produced a late rally with Cave's second try followed by a score from substitute David Gannon.

But there was still time for Callum Bruce to ensure the Maori had the final word with a simple score.


NZ Maori:
Paku, Gear, Sweeney, Tipoki, Tahana, Ellison, Smylie, West, de Malmanche, May, Ormsby, Triggs, MacDonald, Latimer, Smith.
Replacements: Bruce for Tipoki (65), Te Whare for Tahana (60), Rodley for Smylie (68), Tui for West (61), Mahoney for de Malmanche (61), Ross for Ormsby (68), Hoeata for Latimer (60).

Sin Bin: May (21), Rodley (70).


Ireland A:
McCarron, McKenzie, Cave, Earls, J Murphy, Sexton, F Murphy, Hogan, Fogarty, Ross, Caldwell, Farley, O'Sullivan, O'Connor, Wilson, Fitzpatrick.
Replacements: Hearty for McCarron (50), Mallon for Earls (53), Keane for F. Murphy (74), Fitzpatrick for Hogan (14), Cronin for Fogarty (51), Gannon for Ross (64), Keogh for Fitzpatrick (50).

Sin Bin: F Murphy (36).

All Blacks team announced.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry and his assistant coaches Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen and fellow selector, Sir Brian Lochore, have announced the team to play France in Auckland on Saturday June 2 at Eden Park:

Leon MacDonald
Josevata Rokocoko
Isaia Toeava
Aaron Mauger
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Dan Carter
Piri Weepu
Chris Masoe
Richie McCaw (c)
Reuben Thorne
Ali Williams
Chris Jack
Carl Hayman
Keven Mealamu
Tony Woodcock

Reserves:

Andrew Hore
Neemia Tialata
Troy Flavell
Rodney So’oialo
Brendon Leonard
Nick Evans
Ma’a Nonu




“We have set high standards for ourselves in the Iveco Series Tests against France,” said coach Graham Henry. “We’d like to find the good form we had in November as quickly as possible and then build on it. So, for us, there’s a lot at stake.”

Henry also noted that loose forward Chris Masoe gets his sixth start for the All Blacks: “We want Chris to have some game time at No. 8 this season and build his experience at the test-level.”

Players not considered for selection due to injury were: Byron Kelleher, Mils Muliaina, and Conrad Smith, who have hamstring strains; Jerry Collins who has a heel injury; and Anton Oliver who is managing a foot injury.

Bruce leads Maori romp.

New Zealand Maori began the defence of their Churchill Cup in style with a resounding 59-23 win over Canada at Northampton Saints' Franklins Gardens on Friday.

Otago fly-half Calam Bruce was the star of the show, scoring 19 points as the Maori ran in nine tries to Canada's three.

Canada made eight changes from the side which was beaten 39-20 to Ireland A but were under the cosh from kick-off.

The Maori won a penalty after just 43 seconds but Bruce struck the left upright from 20 metres.

However they opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Canadian full-back Mike Pyke's clearance was charged down by Bruce and flanker Scott Waldrom collected to run in from five metres.

Bruce converted successfully before they doubled their advantage after a fine move seven minutes later.

After a huge line out from hooker Luke Mahoney was well collected by debutante Isaac Ross, Bruce's incisive reverse pass sent Anthony Tahana running in towards the line and his unselfish offload allowed fellow wing Pehi Te Whare to cross unchallenged in the right corner.

Bruce again successfully converted before Bedford wing James Pritchard perfectly judged a 40-metre penalty to open Canada's account.

But Tahana extended the Maori lead in the 20th minute after a turnover in the Canada pack allowed scrum-half Chris Smylie to pick him out on the left for a simple try.

Bruce hooked the difficult conversion wide before Pritchard again nailed a long-distance penalty to reduce the deficit to 13.

But again the Maori responded instantly through full-back Glen Horton who raced in after another superb pass from Bruce cut out three Canada forwards.

Bruce completed the conversion to open up a 20-point lead before Canada scored their first try in the 33rd minute through Adam Kleeberger to make the scores 26-11.

A huge drive from the Canada pack looked to have run out of steam but the flanker from the University of Victoria managed to touch down.

Pritchard missed the conversion before the Maori scored a stunning counter-attack try from within their own half.

Smylie made the decisive break from midfield with a 40-metre run and though his pass to Bruce was cut out by the diving figure of Ander Monro, Tahana was on hand to touch down the loose ball.

Bruce missed the conversion to leave the half-time score 31-11 but the mercurial fly-half was again in the thick of it in the second half and got his name on the score sheet after 46 minutes when he broke a tackle 35 metres out and charged through before converting his own score.

Centre Jason Kawau then grabbed the Maori's seventh try from close range which was converted before substitute Tamati Ellison dived in for the eighth with his first touch.

Bruce converted to bring up the 50-point mark before Canada sub Morgan Williams steamed down the left to feed in the overlapping Pyke for a simple score which was brilliantly converted by Pritchard.

Tahana then embarked on a surging run before handing off for number eight Warren Smith to score and Bruce again converted.

Ross then capped a memorable debut by being sin-binned after a scuffle and from the resulting scrum sub Aaron Carpenter dived over for Canada's third score.

Canada will now face the USA for fifth place on finals day at Twickenham on June 2 while the Maori play Ireland A at Exeter on Tuesday in their final Pool B match.

The Scorers:

For New Zealand Maori:

Tries: Waldrom, Te Whare, Tahana 2, Horton, Bruce, Kawau, Ellison, Smith
Cons: Bruce 7

For Canada:

Tries: Kleeberger, Pyke, Carpenter
Con: Pritchard
Pens: Pritchard 2

Yellow Card: Issac Ross (New Zealand Maori - fighting)

New Zealand Maori: 15 Shannon Paku, 14 Pehi Te Whare, 13 Jason Kawau, 12 Rua Tipoki (captain), 11 Anthony Tahana, 10 Callum Bruce, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Warren Smith, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Angus Macdonald, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Kristian Ormsby, 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Luke Mahoney, 1 Keith Cameron.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Craig West, 18 Jarrad Hoeata, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 James Rodley, 21 Tamati Ellison, 22 Dwayne Sweeney.

Canada: 15 Mike Pyke, 14 Dean van Camp, 13 Craig Culpan, 12 Derek Daypuck, 11 James Pritchard, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, (c) 8 David Biddle, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Mike Webb, 5 Mike Burak, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Scott Franklin, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Carpenter, 17 Dan Pletch, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Josh Jackson, 20 Stan McKeen, 21 Morgan Williams, 22 Nathan Hirayama.

New Zealand Maori squad named.

New Zealand Maori coaches Donny Stevenson and Shane Howarth today announced the New Zealand Maori squad for the 2007 Churchill Cup tournament in England. The squad is (province and iwi):






Callum Bruce - Otago, Ngati Kahungunu
Keith Cameron* - Otago, Te Whanau Apanui
Aled de Malmanche* - Waikato, Tainui
Tamati Ellison - Wellington, Ngati Porou
Hosea Gear - Wellington, Ngati Porou
Brendan Haami - Taranaki, Te Ati Awa
Glen Horton* - Otago, Tuwharetoa
Jason Kawau* - Southland, Ngati Apa
Tanerau Latimer - Bay of Plenty, Ngai Te Rangi
Angus Macdonald - Auckland, Ngapuhi
Luke Mahoney - Wellington, Te Ati Awa
Ben May* - Tasman, Tuhoe
Liam Messam - Waikato, Ngai Tuhoe
Kristian Ormsby - Counties Manukau, Ngati Maniapoto
Shannon Paku - Wellington, Ngai Tuhoe
Isaac Ross* - Canterbury, Kai Tahu
Chris Smylie - Otago, Ngati Mutunga
Warren Smith - Bay of Plenty, Ngati Kahungunu
Dwayne Sweeney* - Waikato, Tainui
Anthony Tahana - Bay of Plenty, Te Arawa
Pehi Te Whare - Southland, Ngati Maniapoto
Hayden Triggs* - Manawatu, Ngati Kahungunu
Rua Tipoki (captain) - Canterbury, Te Whanau Apanui
Hoani Tui* - Wellington, Ngati Apa
Scott Waldrom - Taranaki, Ngati Porou
Craig West* - Waikato, Ngati Apakura

* Denotes new cap

A total of 10 new players have been included in the squad for the tournament, which will be held from 18 May – 2 June.

New Zealand Maori coach Donny Stevenson said the squad was well-balanced with a good mix of experienced players and newcomers.

“This is the beauty of this team - we are able to give young players the opportunity to play international rugby. A couple of the new players came to our attention during last year’s Air New Zealand Cup, which highlights the importance and value of this domestic competition,” Stevenson said.

The Churchill Cup tournament has previously been held in North America but will this year be staged in England.

“There is an air of excitement about the change of venue. This is new territory for us but that is the exciting challenge. We hope that the strong expat Kiwi community in the UK will come out and support us,” Stevenson added.

It will be the first time since 1998 that New Zealand Maori will play in the United Kingdom after playing matches in Scotland that year.

adidas Head of Rugby Nick Drake said the apparel supplier was delighted that one of New Zealand’s most iconic rugby teams would be in action in England.

“This will be a fantastic opportunity to see one of the world’s most exciting teams playing in England. New Zealand Maori are more than just a rugby team – they represent one of the unique cultures of New Zealand's society and we are proud to be associated with the team. We wish them the very best of luck in defending the Churchill Cup,” Drake said.

TV3 will televise New Zealand Maori pool matches and the final live.

Churchill Cup tournament (kick off times local)
Friday 25 May: New Zealand Maori v Canada, Northampton at 8.00pm
Tuesday 29 May: New Zealand Maori v Ireland A, Exeter at 8.00pm
Saturday 2 June: Churchill Cup finals day, Twickenham

All Blacks squad named.

The All Blacks selectors have announced their All Blacks squad for the 2007 Iveco Series and Philips Tri Nations and it includes two first-time selections in Waikato halfback Brendon Leonard and Wellington prop John Schwalger.

“Brendon has been the best attacking halfback in the Rebel Sport Super 14 this season and has forced his way into the side based on form,” said Henry “while John’s ability to play both sides of the scrum was a key factor for us.”

The 22-year-old Leonard made his provincial debut in 2005 and his first Chiefs start this year. Schwalger also started his provincial career in 2005 and played for the Hurricanes in 2006 as well as 2007. He also represented New Zealand Under 21 in 2004 and the Junior All Blacks last season.

Henry noted that the upcoming Iveco Series Tests against France and Canada were critical to the All Blacks season: “We’re focused on finding our form as fast as possible and then we want to build on it. We are looking to improve on where we were last year and there’s a lot of work to do.”

Of the 2006 All Blacks, locks Jason Eaton and James Ryan, who took part in last November’s tour to Europe, were unavailable for selection due to injury, and prop Greg Somerville continues to rehabilitate an achilles injury sustained during last year’s Philips Tri Nations.

Meanwhile, Rebel Sport Super 14 loose forward Sione Lauaki and centre Richard Kahui were not considered for selection due to injury.

The sqaud:

Dan Carter - Canterbury
Jerry Collins - Wellington
Nick Evans - Otago
Troy Flavell - Auckland
Carl Hayman - Otago
Andrew Hore - Taranaki
Doug Howlett - Auckland
Chris Jack - Tasman
Byron Kelleher - Waikato
Brendon Leonard - Waikato
Luke McAlister - North Harbour
Richie McCaw - Canterbury (Captain)
Leon MacDonald - Canterbury
Chris Masoe - Wellington
Aaron Mauger - Canterbury
Keven Mealamu - Auckland
Malili Muliaina - Waikato
Anton Oliver - Otago
Keith Robinson - Waikato
Josevata Rokocoko - Auckland
John Schwalger - Wellington
Sitiveni Sivivatu - Waikato
Conrad Smith - Wellington
Rodney So’oialo - Wellington
Reuben Thorne - Canterbury
Neemia Tialata - Wellington
Isaia Toeava - Auckland
Piri Weepu - Wellington
Ali Williams - Auckland
Tony Woodcock - North Harbour

Junior All Blacks team announced for opening match.

Waikato flanker Marty Holah will captain a strong Junior All Blacks side against Samoa in the team's opening IRB Pacific Nations Cup match in Apia on Sunday (NZ time).

Ten former All Blacks are in the starting line-up for the Junior All Blacks’ tournament opener.

Co-Coach Colin Cooper said it was important for the Junior All Blacks to get the campaign off to a good start.

“There is no doubt that this match will be a challenge for us but it is important that we set the high standards we have for this team. The Junior All Blacks are New Zealand’s second national team and we are focused on fulfilling the expectations that come with the name,” Cooper said.

“As for Samoa, we are familiar with many of their players and they will be a challenging side, especially in conditions that they are used to,” he added.

Wellington hooker Tone Kopelani has replaced Corey Flynn who is on parental leave and Wellington centre Tane Tu’ipulotu has replaced Ma’a Nonu, who has joined the All Blacks squad.

Note: Daniel Braid has been bracketed with Tu’ipulotu in the reserves. A final decision will be made before the match.

The game will be televised live on Sky Sport 1 from 2.00pm on Sunday 27 May.

Junior All Blacks team to play Samoa: 15. Cory Jane, 14. Rico Gear, 13. Casey Laulala, 12. Stephen Brett, 11. Scott Hamilton, 10. Stephen Donald, 9. Jimmy Cowan, 8. Mose Tuiali’i, 7. Marty Holah (captain), 6. Kieran Read, 5. Greg Rawlinson, 4. Hoani MacDonald, 3. John Afoa, 2. Derren Witcombe, 1. Clarke Dermody
Reserves: 16. Tone Kopelani, 17. Campbell Johnstone, 18. Ross Filipo, 19. Jerome Kaino, 20. Andrew Ellis, 21. Anthony Tuitavake, 22. Daniel Braid / Tane Tu’ipulotu