Test selection continues Guildford's great year

LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff.co.nz

YOUNG STAR: Hawke's Bay wing Zac Guildford, selected over Cory Jane, will get his second All Blacks start against England at Twickenham.

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Zac Guildford's remarkable rugby year took another turn for the good when he was today included in a close-to-full-strength All Blacks lineup to take on England at Twickenham early Sunday (NZ time).

Guildford and Canterbury tighthead prop Owen Franks were the minor surprise inclusions in the run-on XV, with Graham Henry electing to hand Wellington pair Cory Jane and Neemia Tialata well-earned rests this weekend after they'd started the first three tests of the tour.

Guildford will earn just his second test cap as the impressive young Magpies flyer is asked to switch to his non-preferred right wing – a seniority thing, by all accounts, with Sitiveni Sivivatu also a specialist on the left side - and Franks gets the nod at tighthead prop.

"They've played every game on tour, and it's just that," Henry said of the call to leave Tialata and Jane out of the 22 this week – a situation both players made public on social networking site Twitter well ahead of the official team announcement.

"It's time to give them a bit of space, and other guys haven't played as much."

Asked if he was annoyed the pair had "tweeted" the selection decision when it was still in-house news, the old-school Henry smiled and delivered a pretty relaxed response.

"It's not a major is it," said the All Blacks coach. "I haven't lost any sleep over it ... just a quiet reminder tomorrow won't go astray. But it's not a major."

Asked his thoughts on players airing team news on Twitter, Henry responded: "I had to find out what Twitter was. I thought it was the new guy playing five-eighth for England."

But the All Blacks certainly feel they know enough about both Guildford and Franks to have some certainty they'll respond to the big occasion at a full Twickenham this weekend.

"He brings a skill-set we're interested in," backs coach Steve Hansen said of the 20-year-old Hawke's Bay wing who made an impressive debut against Wales.

"He's very good under the high ball, can pop up anywhere in the backline from phase play, he's got plenty of pace and can score tries. And he's got enough pace to get back and stop them as well, as we've seen."

Henry earlier in the tour said Franks' main role on the trip was to continue his extensive education under scrum guru Mike Cron. But they've seen enough to hand the 21-year-old Cantab his fourth start and eighth test appearance all told.

"He's been an impressive young guy," said Henry. "He's certainly got the right attitude, he's got good technique at the scrum and he's very dedicated to that part of the game.

"He's also improved his game outside the scrum. He's getting better all the time and I think he's going to develop into a very good footballer at this level."

Henry bracketed the hamstrung Corey Flynn and Waikato's Aled de Malmanche as backup hooker, though the coach says he's resigned to not having Corey Flynn on his bench for Sunday morning's (NZ time) test.

De Malmanche was whistled up from holiday in Bali and only joined the team yesterday as cover after Flynn "tweaked" his hamstring at training on Monday. Henry said de Malmanche will be managed through the week and they were confident he could step in if required.

Canterbury's Kieran Read also appears to have regained the inside running at No 8 after Rodney So'oialo had started there against Australia and Italy. Today's selection indicates he's now seen as the clear preferred candidate.

Otherwise it's the XV that started the test against Australia in Tokyo and close to Henry's top lineup – an indication that the All Blacks are not buying into the press speculation that this is an England team incapable of playing its way out of a paper bag.

"We respect them," said Henry of the under-siege England side. "They're a team that's inclined to come right when they play big games. For a big game like this test match they'll be on the edge of the edge."

Adam Thomson also continued to hold out the challenge of Jerome Kaino for the No 6 jersey, while there was a "promotion" for lock Anthony Boric and halfback Andy Ellis on to the bench.

Henry also said he was rapt to have "some reality" over the side's supposed scrum issues, after a public apology and confirmation from IRB refs boss Paddy O'Brien that Aussie Stu Dickinson got it badly wrong in Milan last weekend, where the New Zealand scrum was heavily penalised against Italy.

"It's just good to have some truthfulness there. The scrum has been a problem for some time and if you get two teams who want to scrum then you get some good football. But if you get one team who's not doing that it makes it a mess."

NEW ZEALAND: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Zac Guildford, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn/Aled de Malmanche, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Tamati Ellison.

- © Fairfax NZ News