All Blacks: Real challenge for old guard

The heat is on the senior All Blacks tonight, men such as Mils Muliaina, Neemia Tialata and Tony Woodcock who have amassed a collective 186 test caps, to match statements set by the rising talent in the squad.

In their initial internationals, the six new All Blacks showed plenty of clout while others with limited experience such as Owen Franks and Cory Jane were impressive contributors against Ireland and Wales.

Some of the "old" guard re-emerge tonight for round two against Wales in Hamilton, where they will be asked to match the standards delivered by their less experienced colleagues.

Several of the squad may be marginal Tri-Nations choices with their fate in the balance tonight before names are revealed tomorrow in an anticipated 30-strong group.

Luke McAlister has been added to the squad already as cover which fills out that numerical threshhold. But there are others like a repaired Ma'a Nonu, perhaps an extra halfback and hooker or a possible looseforward deputy for Richie McCaw, who may find their names on official New Zealand Rugby Union letterhead tomorrow.

Those under the most inspection may be young wing Zac Guildford, the vastly experienced Joe Rokocoko who is resting tonight and Adam Thomson. Then again the All Black squad size seems to expand when they feel like it.

The selectors search for merit at Waikato Stadium tonight may not be so much about the crisp adventure they unveiled in New Plymouth and Dunedin but more about increasing the precision and accuracy from the untested squad members.

Muliaina, Tialata and Woodcock will be joined in their first start this year by Guildford, Richard Kahui and Tom Donnelly, men who through injury, modest form or lack of opportunity have not started a test in black this season.

"We have a lot of experience and we need to go up a level from last week where it took us a while to get into the game," All Black captain McCaw said. "This time we need to do it from the start. I would like to think there is room for a lot of improvement."

No prizes then for guessing the tenor and tone of the team talk tonight.

The All Blacks will want to build pressure, hold possession, stifle the Welsh and force them into attritional defence. The visitors will look to the template they began at Carisbrook's last hurrah, where they claimed large chunks of possession and territory yet clicked over the scoreboard too rarely.

If they repeat their initial formula, Wales may be able to take more sting out of the All Blacks because several of their returning players will be short of match fitness. Conditions may be greasy and errors will mount. So scrums will become more prevalent and more critical.

In Dunedin, Adam Jones began strongly on the tighthead of the Welsh scrum before hitting a wall then slipping into reverse and claiming his departure card when Woodcock made his impressive substitute appearance.

The pair duel from the start tonight while the bulky Tialata heads into combat with the grunt from Brad Thorn powering his side of the scrum. In theory, the All Black scrum should be more efficient. McCaw was in charge last week, claiming kickoffs, breakdown victims and his team's attention when they needed some withering reminders.

He was all class and his energy will be needed again to weld the pack together. Everyone's gaze will also be on Daniel Carter - for any number of reasons. The All Black selectors and medicos will be monitoring his condition with the Tri-Nations series due to start with a double-banger against the Springboks in a fortnight.

Wales will be looking to engage the mercurial five-eighths, to squeeze his space and force him into contact instead of letting him control the rhythm of the game with his tactical kicking. It's a good idea though many better sides have failed to implement a similar plan.

They could start by running possession at Carter, instead of slapping much of it skyward as they did in Dunedin. Jamie Roberts running back on the grain would be an imposing defensive challenge for Carter although he is a quality defender.

If Wales try that tactic and lose the ball at the breakdown, their new backline faces will be exposed to an All Black attack they will have seldom encountered. This is the last hurrah for Wales before their off-season, their final chance to tell Warren Gatland they should return next year for the World Cup. The All Blacks have their own internal challenges which will be played out in public tomorrow.