Richie McCaw set for 100th Test as All Blacks captain

Richie McCaw will captain New Zealand for the 100th time on Saturday as the All Blacks take on Wales at the Millennium.
McCaw is the only forward to retain his place after the 24-16 win over Scotland last weekend but will wear his familiar No.7 shirt with Jerome Kaino and No.8 Kieran Read returning to the fold.
Beauden Barrett gets the nod at fly-half over the “rusty” Dan Carter who made only returned from a fractured leg recently.
The impressive Charles Piutau is on the right wing meaning Ben Smith continues at full-back and Israel Dagg misses out all together.
Head coach Steve Hansen said: “Richie is now one of the all-time great leaders of any sports team.
“We’re using this tour to find out more about the guys we’ve got,” said Hansen. “We’ve shown that when we’ve picked Beauden – it’s difficult for Crudes to come off the bench, because we don’t think he’s got enough versatility.
“If Dan had come through the other day probably a little bit better, he might have been on the bench, but it’s impossible to ask a guy to have as much time off as he’s had and not be rusty.
“We are expecting a physical Test with a high ‘ball-in-play’ time.
“We know we will have to be totally engaged in our own roles for the full 80 minutes and take the game to the Welsh at every opportunity.”
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Samson Lee; Jake Ball, Alun Wyn Jones; Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton (Capt.), Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Rhodri Jones, Luke Charteris , Justin Tipuric, Mike Phillips, James Hook, Liam Williams.
New Zealand: Ben Smith; Charles Piutau, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Julian Savea; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Wyatt Crockett, Dane Coles, Owen Franks; Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock; Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (Capt.), Kieran Read.
Replacements: Keven Mealamu, Joe Moody, Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu, Liam Messam, TJ Perenara, Colin Slade, Ryan Crotty.