{"id":334420,"date":"2023-09-28T01:34:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T01:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=334420"},"modified":"2023-09-28T02:00:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T02:00:57","slug":"new-zealands-gandalf-to-eclipse-all-blacks-icon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=334420","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand's 'Gandalf' to eclipse All Blacks icon"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\ufeffAINT-ETIENNE:<\/strong> Sam Whitelock will enter rarefied air on Saturday (5am AEST) when he surpasses All Blacks icon Richie McCaw<\/a> as New Zealand's most capped Test player.<\/p>\n

Whitelock was named on the All Blacks bench for the must win game against Italy and will play his 149th Test when he takes the field in Lyon.<\/p>\n

The \ufeff34-year-old made his debut in 2010 – replacing Brad Thorn against Ireland – and was a pivotal player in the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup<\/a> triumphs.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every match ad free, live and on demand in 4K UHD<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Richie<\/p>\n

The lock will then rank behind only Wales great Alun Wyn Jones \ufeff(170 caps) on the all time world list.<\/p>\n

All Blacks coach Ian Foster was asked why he didn't give Whitelock a start in the milestone match, with \ufeffScott Barrett and Brodie Retallick preferred in the run on side.<\/p>\n

"I don't think it takes the romance out of it," Foster said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Gutted' rugby boss fronts on Eddie's Wallabies future<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS:\ufeff<\/strong> Grisly findings from World Cup post-mortem<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'It wasn't addressed…' Elephant in Wallabies room<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"This is a credit to Sam, every game he is achieving something new at the moment. He equalled a record last week, he's going to beat it this week. He's got 150 coming up and then he's the most capped All Black in World Cups. Every day is a bit of a statement of something he's achieving.<\/p>\n

"We will do all our celebration of that achievement after this game. Right now what the team needs to achieve is bigger than the individual."<\/p>\n

All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala said the venerable Whitelock was \ufeff"sort of like the Godfather" but that wasn't his only nickname.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Michael Atkinson, Sam Worthington and Tom Decent complete a grisly Wallabies post-mortem in Lyon and try to make sense of Eddie Jones threatening to turn Japanese\ufeff again<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/rugby-world-cup-inside-line\/tom-decent-details-exclusive-eddie-jones-story\/embed?in_playlist=podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

"I've heard Gandalf before."<\/p>\n

The All Blacks have never lost to Italy – who beat the Wallabies last year – but are taking no chances with their selection.<\/p>\n

Apart from suspended prop Ethan de Groot, New Zealand had a full hand to pick from and welcome back four key players from injury.<\/p>\n

\"Cam<\/p>\n

Centre Jordie Barrett (knee) and flanker Shannon Frizell (hamstring) start while captain Sam Cane (back) and prop Tyrel Lomax (leg) are on the bench.<\/p>\n

Ardie Savea will continue to lead the team.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"We're expecting a lot of emotion out there and to have the likes of Dane (Coles) and the two Sams (Whitelock and Cane) on the bench to come on and bring a slightly level headed approach in that last part is going to be important to us," Foster said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1706866255821455488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Italy are coached by former All Blacks fullback Kieran Crowley.<\/p>\n

\ufeffAnd in classic Kiwi fashion, the Taranaki man is familiar with the Barretts.<\/p>\n

"Our neighbouring farm is with the Crowleys, Alan and Susan Crowley, Kieran's brother," Jordie Barrett explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"We have great family ties with the Crowleys."<\/p>\n

Italy (2-0) are ahead of New Zealand (1-1) in Pool A and Crowley has rearranged his key backs for the fix\ufeffture.<\/p>\n

Tommaso Allan will start at fullback, Ange Capuozzo on the wing and Paolo Garbisi at five-eighth.<\/p>\n

ALL BLACKS (15-1):<\/strong> Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Mark Telea, Richie Mo'unga, Aaron Smith, Ardie Savea (c), Dalton Papali'i, Shannon Frizell, Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Ofa Tu'ungafasi<\/p>\n

Reserves:<\/strong> Dane Coles, Tamaiti Williams, Tyrel Lomax, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane, Cam Roigard, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown<\/p>\n

ITALY (15-1):<\/strong> Tommaso Allan, Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Luca Morisi, Montanna Ioane, Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney, Lorenzo Cannone, Michele Lamaro (c), Sebastian Negri, Federico Ruzza, Dino Lamb, Marco Riccioni, Giacomo Nicotera, Danilo Fisichetti<\/p>\n

Reserves:<\/strong> Hame Faiva, Ivan Nemer, Simone Ferrari, Niccolo Cannone, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi, Martin Page-Relo, Paolo Odogwu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

S\ufeffAINT-ETIENNE: Sam Whitelock will enter rarefied air on Saturday (5am AEST) when he surpasses All Blacks icon Richie McCaw as New Zealand's most capped Test […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334420"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334426,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334420\/revisions\/334426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/334422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}