Richie McCaw

By Chris Barclay of NZPA

Auckland, July 15 NZPA - Australia's tactic to pressure Richie McCaw by including three specialist openside flankers in their squad for the Bledisloe Cup rugby test here on Saturday has been ignored by the All Blacks.

Team management had plenty of notice to revamp the composition of their bench after George Smith, Phil Waugh and David Pocock were included in the Wallabies match-day 22 but resisted the temptation to include Tanerau Latimer among their reserves as a counterbalance.

After viewing the composition of Australian coach Robbie Deans' selections yesterday, it was decided McCaw would be up to the task despite this being his first test of an injury-interrupted season.

The inspirational leader, who will log his 200th first-class appearance, is initially pitted against Australian centurion and long-time nemesis George Smith while Waugh and Pocock are expected to see action in the final quarter.

McCaw admitted he was blowing after a club rugby hitout in Christchurch last weekend, his first competitive match since the Crusaders' Super 14 semifinal loss to the Bulls on May 24.

The 70-test flanker suffered a knee injury in that match, ruling him out of last month's tests against France and Italy.

A combination of concussion and an earlier knee injury ensured he played only eight of the Crusaders' 14 matches, leaving him relatively underdone.

However, All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen scoffed at suggestions McCaw might be off the pace in the Tri-Nations opener at Eden Park.

"We expect him to play the 80 (minutes)," Hansen said when asked whether McCaw should be expected to last the distance.

"He's done it before, he's our leader and we want him on the park."

Hansen cited the corresponding fixture in Auckland 12 months ago when McCaw returned from an injury layoff to spearhead the All Blacks' 39-10 victory seven days after they were well beaten in Sydney.

"He's trained well, he's confident he can go 80 and I'm confident he's got the mental aptitude to do that as well," he said.

McCaw returned to the fold when the All Blacks held a camp in Wellington last week, and played in an inter-squad game before returning to Christchurch and playing 42 minutes for his club side.

Should McCaw struggle or sustain an injury, No 8 Rodney So'oialo will take over at openside and Kieran Read will come off the bench to play No 8.

Hansen conceded the All Blacks might be taking a chance in having McCaw as their only genuine openside but he suggested the Wallabies' ploy might also be flawed if locks Nathan Sharpe and James Horwill were injured.

"I guess it's a risk taking two short ones (Waugh and Pocock) as well," he said.

Hansen said the All Blacks did not want to be short of lineout options if Isaac Ross or Brad Thorn broke down so Read and Jason Eaton were included in a 4-3 reserves bench split of forwards and backs.

Eaton replaces rookie Bryn Evans in what will be his first test since playing France at Paris in late 2006.

He suffered a serious knee injury in the following year's Super 14 and after a lengthy rehabilitation he was a tourist on the 2008 end-of-year tour to Hong Kong and Britain but never made the test squad.

"He had a horrific injury and it's taken a long time to come back from that to the form he was in in '06," Hansen said.

Eaton was most recently in the Junior All Blacks squad who won the Pacific Nations Cup.

During the tournament he was shifted to the blindside flank, a sign he was back in All Blacks contention, on the strength of his versatility.