John Drake: 'B' stands for better

Those who have branded Ireland's opponents this weekend as All Blacks B are uninformed and grandstanding.

After all the talk and speculation, the All Black selectors have done what they said they would and completely changed the starting XV to play Ireland from those who comprehensively beat Wales.

Take a look at the new All Black team.

Tony Woodcock, Anton Oliver, Ali Williams, Richie McCaw, Piri Weepu, Aaron Mauger, Doug Howlett, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Leon MacDonald have all been first choice selections in recent times.

If things get sticky then Carl Hayman, Chris Jack, Rodney So'oialo and Mils Muliaina are waiting on the bench. So there goes the B team theory.

There will certainly be some challenges for the new guys. I'm particularly thinking of John Afoa, Jason Eaton, Sione Lauaki and Mose Tuiali'i, for if Ireland will challenge anywhere it will be up front.

I believe this team would have been training together for the last two weeks, so combinations will be sound, certainly better than Ireland who have just come off club rugby and have had to cope with injury-forced selections.

If I were Ireland, I would be targeting Afoa and Eaton at scrum and lineout. Niggle them with talk, attitude and physicality.

Afoa is an outstanding athlete but has yet to prove himself with the top class scrum technicians, so it will be a test in every sense for the Auckland tighthead.

Eaton is so green I bet he wakes up each morning on tour and for a moment still thinks he's back on the farm, then realises he's surrounded with guys whose autographs he was seeking a year or so ago.

It will be interesting to see how Williams, Woodcock and Keven Mealamu help him out.

Williams really needs to step up in the leadership stakes to show the way, call the lineouts and be McCaw's lieutenant.

Mealamu and Woodcock know Afoa's strengths and weaknesses. Their class will certainly help him through the day.

Despite the new team, be sure that Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Wayne Smith and Sir Brian Lochore will be certain that this team is good enough to beat Ireland.

The first three gentlemen have a huge knowledge of the opposition and will be aware of their strong and weak points. They also know that man for man this All Black team is on balance better than Ireland.

I wonder how many of these All Blacks would be selected by Welsh coach Mike Ruddock and England's Andy Robinson for their national sides if eligible? Eight, nine, maybe 10? Just think about it.

So, I'm pretty happy with the look of this team. The only change I would have made is Tana Umaga.

I'd have had him playing, but not for anything to do with the Brian O'Driscoll business. Rather, I think he needs regular rugby. Taper off on the physical training but play him more.

Umaga reminds me of Joe Stanley in the 1980s. Joe was always sore with bad knees, shoulders and various internal ailments. He wasn't able to train regularly but played the games and was better for it.

I think Umaga needs regular game time or he loses his special touches and the pace of the game.

As for the talk about the five-months-old tackle, well the All Black players, management and Umaga have handled it very well since arriving in the United Kingdom, certainly better than they did in New Zealand in July, and better than O'Driscoll himself recently.

I wonder if, like Gavin Henson, he is getting the best advice on the content and promotion of his book.

All rugby people feel sorry for the reckless cleanout at the ruck but also get tired of the continued moaning, as that's not the rugby way.

Equally, those in New Zealand who have defended what happened just need to think about how they would have reacted if it had been, say, Dan Carter who was injured in such a way.

So the All Blacks will be confident that the topic they never talk about - the road to a possible Grand Slam - should be safe against Ireland. They are better prepared and have more talent.

The Irish are a lovely bunch of people and will be great hosts, even telling the All Blacks how good they are and not to worry about the O'Driscoll business.

I hope Henry and company have got their men mentally prepared for Lansdowne Rd.

It will probably be wet and windy - no Millennium Stadium roof here. The Irish team will play with the passion and fearlessness of a pack of wild dogs. They will have little respect for reputations, and the coach and players will still be brooding over events during the Lions tour here.

If Ireland are in one of those moods, the All Blacks will need the experience they have.

So, in a variety of ways, it's another test for this group of players leading not so much to a Grand Slam but the not-too-distant goal of the World Cup in France in two years' time.