All you need to know ahead of the All Blacks' clash against the Wallabies in Bledisloe I
The All Blacks' first Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies in Wellington today will be the first time the New Zealand side will be on the field since the conclusion of the disappointing 2019 Rugby World Cup.
In fact, it's two weeks short of a year since that night in Yokohama where the All Blacks fell to England in the World Cup semifinal, and 400 days since they last played a test in New Zealand.
They will be playing the match without Beauden Barrett, who was a late withdrawal due to an Achilles injury, being replaced by Damian McKenzie, while this morning reserve prop Nepo Laulala was ruled out due to personal reasons, with Tyrel Lomax coming onto the bench.
With everything that's happened since that England defeat, All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor said he was excited to put the loss behind him and use it as fuel against the Wallabies in the highly-anticipated return of test rugby.
"Being involved in that, it obviously hurts and you're never going to forget losing a World Cup playoff," Taylor said. Australia all blacks live stream
"The great thing about this year is we've got a new group and there's a whole lot of new players who weren't a part of that team and they can bring a lot of energy themselves and help us get through.
"We've got a whole new coaching staff as well so there's a lot of excited people in the group and looking forward to Sunday. It's almost been a year since we've played so that's what we're using as fuel to get out there and pull on a black jersey."
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