The selection that Graham Henry has made for Saturday's Test against Ireland shows further blooding of young players:
"New Zealand: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Sione Lauaki, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Jason Eaton, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Saimone Taumoepeau, 18 Carl Hayman, 19 Chris Jack, 20 Rodney So'oialo, 21 Jimmy Cowan, 22 Mils Muliaina."
Ireland is without O'Driscoll and O'Connell, but will hopefully make a good strong showing:
"Ireland: 15 Geordan Murphy (Leicester), 14 Tommy Bowe (Ulster), 13 Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster), 12 Shane Horgan (Leinster), 11 Anthony Horgan (Munster), 10 R O'Gara (Munster), 9 P Stringer (Munster), 8 Denis Leamy (Munster), 7 Johnny O'Connor (Wasps), 6 Simon Easterby (Llanelli, captain), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster), 3 John Hayes (Munster), 2 Shane Byrne (Saracens), 1 Marcus Horan (Munster).
Replacements: 16 Rory Best (Ulster), 17 Simon Best (Ulster), 18 Matt McCullough (Ulster), 19 Neil Best (Ulster), 20 Kieran Campbell (Ulster), 21 David Humphreys (Ulster), 22 Girvan Dempsey (Leinster)."
I was not a great fan of Henry when he took over from Mitchell, but I'm impressed with the work that he's done. As he has stated, he aims at having 2 World Class players for every position, and appears well on the way to achieving it. I don't know that the AB's have ever had this much depth of talent to draw upon from with the combination of starters and reserves.
I think that it speaks volumes that Henry is prepared to risk the outcome of a match in a Test Series in order to further the development of new players. I also think that Eddie Jones' staid selections have brought about something of a generation gap in the Wallabies and it is showing in their results. Some of those old boys are starting to look a little tired.
Any thoughts for Saturday's AB / Ireland face-off?