England vs New Zealand team news: All Blacks spring surprise as Scott Barrett starts and Steve Hansen responds to ‘spygate’
Barrett joins brother Beauden in the starting line-up as Sam Cane drops to the bench in an obvious attempt to target England’s lineout ahead of the Rugby World Cup semi-final
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New Zealand boss Steve Hansen has no issue with England counterpart Eddie Jones following this week’s spy allegations in the build-up to their Rugby World Cup semi-final, though the All Blacks boss did stress that their opponents are under more pressure to deliver after their 2015 failure.
The reigning world champions sprung a surprise with their team selection on Thursday with Hansen dropping flanker Sam Cane for natural lock Scott Barrett, in what appears to be a deliberate effort to target England’s lineout.
But the week has been dominated so far by Jones’s dramatic press conference two days ago, which saw the Australian claim that someone had been seen filming their training session.
Jones did not directly accuse the All Blacks of being behind the move, though assistant John Mitchell did claim that if it was them they will not have learned a great deal from the session. Yet Hansen evidently took no offence by the outburst.
“Eddie and I both know that all is fair in love and war,” Hansen said on Thursday. “There is nothing better in war than throw a wee distraction out that you guys can’t resist. It’s the best clickbait in the world – someone’s spying on us.
“He didn’t call at us. He was very deliberate in not doing that. He talked about it being somebody else. It was probably the same bloke who videoed us when we were there, but everyone has jumped on it and he’s been successful in getting the clickbait.
“He was very particular about what he said, that someone had filmed their training. He said it could have been a supporter. He didn’t say New Zealand did it.”
The two shared an exchange of text messages at the start of the week to say they will look forward to a beer together after the match, and they appear to have remained in touch following the ‘spygate’ storm.
“He’s been in touch with me but not about those claims. A few other things,” added Hansen. “He sent me a text, asked ‘how are you doing?’ I had a good chuckle, he had a chuckle. We didn’t buy into any of it [the mind games]. Did he send smiley faces? No. He’s not a smiley face kind of guy. It’s about trying to take some pressure off his team.”
Jones did use his media appearance on Tuesday to claim that all the pressure to deliver in Saturday’s semi-final will be on the All Blacks and their attempts to secure an historic three-peat, having won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. But Hansen did hit back at his old friend’s claim that the pressure will be “chasing them down the street” by turning it back around on England.
“That same pressure’s running down the same street we’re on,” Hansen added. “I’ve got memories of a tournament four years ago that didn’t go that good for them…”
The decision to drop Cane from the back-row came as something of a surprise, although the success that New Zealand enjoyed at the set-piece in their 16-15 victory at Twickenham last November explains the move as Barrett enjoyed plenty of success in the lineout alongside Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick and Kieran Read once he came on in the second half.
“I’m not going to go into too much depth because then we’ll give Eddie some information,” said Hansen. “It’s strategic, not on form – Sam Cane’s playing great rugby. It’s about what we want to do. Scott’s a lineout forward, he adds to our ball carrying ability.
“That [performance in November] had a wee bit to do with it. It’s a wee bit significant.”
New Zealand: Beauden Barrett; Sevu Reece, Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown, George Bridge; Richie Mo’unga, Aaron Smith; Joe Moody, Codie Taylor, Nepo Laulala; Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock; Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, Kieran Read.
Replacements: Dane Coles, Ofa Tuungafasi, Angus Ta’avao, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Cane, TJ Perenara, Sonny Bill Williams, Jordie Barrett.
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