Beauden Barrett to captain All Blacks for first time against Wales
Beauden Barrett will captain New Zealand for the first time when the All Blacks play Wales in Cardiff on Saturday in the Nations Championship. The 35-year-old fly-half, the player who sets the pattern of attack from behind the scrum, will also win his 149th international cap, according to BBC Sport.
New Zealand have a long record in this fixture. They have won the past 34 Tests against Wales, a run that goes back to 1953. A Test is rugby's term for a full international match.
Richie Mo'unga starts at fly-half, so Barrett's role on the day is as captain rather than the main playmaker. Scott Barrett has been named at lock. Locks are the tall second-row forwards who usually win the ball in the lineout, the set piece where players throw the ball back into play after it has gone out at the side.
Two debutants in the Test starting side are worth watching. Anton Segner will start at flanker, one of the two loose forwards who work hard in the tackle and at the breakdown, where players contest for the ball on the ground. Fehi Fineanganofo will start on the wing, the player who usually finishes attacking moves out wide. Both are making their first Test starts.
The team has also been reshaped by injury. Will Jordan is absent after a hamstring problem suffered against Scotland. Jordie Barrett is out with a facial injury from the same match. Neither player is involved in the Wales game.
New Zealand's last win came in Edinburgh, no, at Murrayfield, where they beat Scotland 43-21. That result gave the side a strong platform, but the squad now has to adjust to losing two players and welcoming new faces.
For Barrett, the job is new. Captaincy means more than the coin toss, because the captain speaks for the side with referees and makes calls on the field when the game changes. Whether a first-time captain changes how the team plays is a question for the match itself, and for now it remains only a question.
Saturday's game in Cardiff will be a good test of how the reshaped side copes with a Welsh team at home. Kick-off details and the final squad are set out on the official All Blacks website.
