KEY POINTS:
A refreshed Junior All Blacks (JAB) team will arrive in Nuku'alofa today hoping to complete their islands rugby assignment on the same note that saw them shut out Samoa and Fiji.
Taking on Tonga in their third game of the Pacific Nations Cup tomorrow, the Junior All Blacks
expect to return home with maximum points before taking on their biggest rivals in the competition -- Australia A.
The Juniors, Cup holders, will host unbeaten Australia A in Dunedin the following Saturday in an afternoon match.
They beat Samoa 31-10 and Fiji 57-8 and know they'll be in for another battering on Saturday even though they're expecting to win well.
"It's pretty hard touring the islands, only those who have been through here in the game will know how tough it is," the team's co-coach, Colin Cooper, said.
"We're just trying to manage the players."
The combination of the tropical heat and the physical battering from the island teams have seen Cooper and his fellow coach Ian Foster make sweeping changes -- nine in all -- again to their run-on side. However, the liberal rotation of the team will see 10 former All Blacks on the field against the Tongans, who have lost their first two games -- 17-20 to Japan and 15-60 to Australia A.
Props Clarke Dermody and John Afoa return to the front row while in other changes to the pack Tom Donnelly starts in the second row and Kieran Read and captain Marty Holah are the flankers.
In the backline, Jimmy Cowan and Stephen Brett start at halfback and first five-eighth, England-bound midfielder Sam Tuitupou starts in the No 12 shirt for the first time while two-test wing Scott Hamilton occupies the right wing.
Cooper said the changes were necessary after a tough workload and extensive travel.
"The key is managing players in this situation," he said.
"We gave them a bit of a switch off in Nadi."
After last Saturday's victory over Fiji in a near perfect match in which the Juniors wore down the locals before moving the ball wide to beat the defence, the Juniors moved into a resort at Nadi.
They shifted back to Suva yesterday and were to fly to Nuku'alofa today.
Cowan said the brief was appreciated by the players, particularly those who had been engaged heavily in the Super 14.
"It's refreshed both the body and the mind," he said.
"We expected Tonga to be like the other Pacific teams -- very physical."
Cowan is among a bunch of players sent away with instructions from the national selectors to improve certain areas of their game if they are to be reconsidered for the All Blacks squad.
"I think it's good working in this team environment where the pressure's not on all the time -- you get to think more about your game and you get the chance to work without too much distraction."
The match kicks off at 12pm (NZT).
Junior All Blacks
Cory Jane, Scott Hamilton, Casey Laulala, Sam Tuitupou, Anthony Tuitavake, Stephen Brett, Jimmy Cowan, Mose Tuiali'i, Marty Holah (captain), Kieran Read, Tom Donnelly, Ross Filipo, John Afoa, Derren Witcombe, Clarke Dermody. Reserves: Tone Kopelani, Wyatt Crockett, Jerome Kaino, Daniel Braid, Andrew Ellis, Stephen Donald, Tane Tu'ipulotu.
- NZPA
