KEY POINTS:
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has been ruled out of Saturday's Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations test against Australia.
Rated a 50 per cent chance by coach Graham Henry yesterday to play in Sydney, McCaw's ankle has not recovered sufficiently enough to take his place in the side.
Daniel Braid will start in the No 7 jersey, his first test since 2003, with Rodney So'oialo captaining the side in McCaw's absence.
The All Blacks will travel from Wellington to Sydney on Thursday with 24 players, with flanker Adam Thomson and winger Rudi Wulf joining the 22-strong squad.
Meanwhile, Kevin O'Neill who has trained with the All Blacks this week will play for Waikato against Bay of Plenty in an Air New Zealand Cup pre-season match tonight. All Blacks prop Neemia Tialata will play club rugby in Wellington this weekend.
All Blacks
Mils Muliaina, Anthony Tuitavake, Richard Kahui, Ma'a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Daniel Carter, Andy Ellis, Jerome Kaino, Daniel Braid, Rodney So'oialo (captain), Ali Williams, Brad Thorn, Greg Somerville, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Keven Mealamu, John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Sione Lauaki, Jimmy Cowan, Stephen Donald, Conrad Smith
- NZ HERALD STAFF
