All Blacks: McAlister ready for change of fortune

Luke McAlister has been given the kicking duties for Sunday’s (NZT) against Italy. Photo / Getty Images

MILAN - Luke McAlister will be entrusted with goalkicking duties for the All Blacks in their test against Italy as the coaches insist he can return to his best rugby on this tour.

It's been something of a nightmare comeback for the gifted 28-test All Black McAlister this year since his two seasons with English club Sale.

Plagued by niggling injuries, McAlister's first test start since the 2007 World Cup quarterfinal was a forgettable one at first five-eighth in the 27-6 win over Italy in Christchurch in June.

He came off the bench in the All Blacks' defeats in Bloemfontein and Durban then suffered a fractured cheekbone in his next start, at second five-eighth in the 19-18 win over the Wallabies in Sydney.

Sunday's (NZT) test at San Siro will be his first since then, having been hampered by an ankle problem which took until the first two weeks of the tour to recover from.

He was named at No 12 today in an exciting backline, either side of debutants Mike Delany and Tamati Ellison, with another newcomer Ben Smith on the right wing.

"Luke hasn't really found his feet since he came back from Europe. He's had a number of injuries and I think he'll show on this tour that he'll get back to his best and show people what he can do," coach Graham Henry said.

That will include the goalkicking, with attack coach Steve Hansen revealing McAlister was preferred to Delany with the kicking tee despite the latter being the second-highest pointscorer in the Air NZ Cup.

Said Hansen: "It's basically on experience. Luke's played a lot of test rugby a bit of pressure goes with kicking.

"To be able to do that in front of 80,000 people allows Mike to concentrate on getting into the game first."

Hansen liked what he saw on the carpet-like Arena Civico surface from his new-look backline, who'd been training together since before the team departed Auckland.

"They've been really tight as a group, particularly Mike, Luke and Tamati, they've done a lot of the hard work for the other test matches and it's their opportunity and they're excited by it.

"I'll encourage them to trust their instincts. They're good rugby players so their instincts are good, if the opportunity's there to run then we'll run and if it's not then we'll kick it back or kick it out. It's about taking the right options at the right time."

Winger Sitiveni Sivivatu is the senior pro in the backline, having returned from a one-match ban for a dangerous tackle, while Cory Jane shifts to his preferred position at fullback.

Henry said they'd hoped to start Jane at 15 against Wales, but Sivivatu's suspension left them not wanting an inexperienced back three at Millennium Stadium.

All Blacks
Cory Jane, Ben Smith, Tamati Ellison, Luke McAlister, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Mike Delany, Andy Ellis, Rodney So'oialo (captain), Tanerau Latimer, Liam Messam, Anthony Boric, Tom Donnelly, Neemia Tialata, Corey Flynn, Wyatt Crockett.

Reserves: Andrew Hore, John Afoa, Jason Eaton, Richie McCaw, Jimmy Cowan, Stephen Donald, Mils Muliaina.

- NZPA