Unpacking the All Black squad to face England

Steve Hansen has named a blockbuster squad to face England for the first time in four years.

The All Black coach has named almost full strength forward pack with Brodie Retallick returning to the second row to partner Sam Whitelock with the only first choice absentees being Joe Moody - who has been ruled out for the remainder of the tour with an eye injury - and Sam Cane who is in a race against time to back the 2019 Rugby World Cup following a nasty neck injury. 

Aaron Smith returns at number 9 after TJ Perenara was given the starting jumper in the final Bledisloe Cup test against Australia with Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie being the two playmakers in the backline at no.10 and no.15 respectively. 

 Ben Smith and Rieko Ioane start out wide for the All Blacks with the biggest talking point for the test being the centre combination with Sonny Bill Williams and Jack Goodhue starting a test match together for the second time. The pair were supposed to link up in the final Rugby Championship test against the Springboks but Goodhue pulled out of the test before kick off.

Goodhue is probably the biggest surprise in the selection of the squad with most pundits backing the combination of SBW and Crotty. The young Crusader has been excellent for the All Blacks so in his short test career to date and scored a wonderful try in his first start in a Bledisloe Cup test earlier this year.

He also had an outstanding game the last time he started for the All Blacks in test against Argentina.

Stats from the last time Jack Goodhue started a test for the All Blacks 📊 pic.twitter.com/6bPhqGU8qh

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) November 8, 2018

On the bench, the All Blacks have included Dane Coles, Ofa Tuungafasi and Nepo Laulala as their cover for the front with Coles likely to make a massive impact, especially in the wide channels. Tuungafasi is primarily a tighthead prop but will provide cover as a loosehead with Tu'inukuafe being the only out and out loosehead in the squad following Moody's injury.

Scott Barrett and Matt Todd provide cover in the back five of the scrum. Barrett has been in superb form this year in the Black jersey but loses his place in the starting lineup, understandably, to Brodie Retallick while Todd will come on and pester the breakdown in the latter stages of the game.

TJ Perenara's outstanding form is not enough to keep him in the starting line up with Aaron Smith reclaiming the no.9 jersey with Smith's superior kicking game likely giving him the edge for the clash at Twickenham. 

Richie Mo'unga is likely to get at least 20 minutes against the English at no.10 with Beauden Barrett shifting to fullback as the All Blacks look to attack in the final quarter of the game while Ryan Crotty will provide the side with intelligent running lines and astute defence off the bench in the centres.

Mo'unga will also take over the kicking duties, as he did in the Rugby Championship earlier this year. He has an excellent boot to touch and will put the All Blacks in great positions to attack from.

All in all the All Blacks look like they will be out to score plenty of tries against the English with a number of positive selections and a few players on the bench that can provide a massive impact and change the way they attack.