Weekend teams and predictions

All Blacks pick Savea and Smith, Poms bring in the backline heavies, Boks give Gurthro a run in his 50^th while the Welsh stick to the knitting. The weekend’s teams, times, SuperBru community picks, and Tank Lanning’s predictions!

So the All Blacks have lost their aura so the England players? Last year the men in black almost lost to the Irish in their first Test, then gave them 60 points the week after! Bold call to give Nonu another run, though, and slightly silly not to start with Barrett. The Poms have brought in the heavies out back, but it was up front where they caused the All Blacks problems last week. Should be a fun 80 minutes on the couch!

In Durban it will be a very different kettle of fish for the Boks this week. Not hear to party, but to play rugby, the Welsh, who have managed some serious consistency in selection in recent times, will not be fading away in the second half. And against Jones and Jenkins, one has to hope that the Bok scrum has spent a few hours on the machine this week. It was not pretty against the World XV, and I am not sure giving Steenkamp a chance to run out in his 50^th Test is the answer to those problems. Serfontein gets a run at 12, and here’s hoping he passes a few more times than he has done in Super Rugby this year. Super talented, but tends to go alone a little too much at the moment. No centre on the bench for the Boks should one of the sparkly new combination go down, which means Goosen would come in at 10 with Steyn going to 12 … That could be messy. The Boks are going to have to work hard to get through this one.

To the weekend then …

Saturday 14 June

03h00 – Samoa v Italy, Apia Park, Apia

Prediction: SAMOA to beat Italy by 5

SuperBru community pick: SAMOA (76%) to beat Italy by 5

09h35 – New Zealand v England, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Prediction: NEW ZEALAND to beat England by 22

SuperBru community pick: NEW ZEALAND (96%) to beat England by 10

New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock

Bench: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17-Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Manu Tuilagi, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Danny Care, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Joe Marler

Bench: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Chris Ashton

12h00 – Australia v France, Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

Prediction: AUSTRALIA to beat France by 7

SuperBru community pick: AUSTRALIA (96%) to beat France by 12

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 James Slipper

Bench: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Laurie Weeks, 19 Luke Jones, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Pat McCabe

France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Alexandre Menini.

Bench: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Antoine Burban, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Remi Lamerat

17h00 – South Africa v Wales, King’s Park, Durban

Prediction: SOUTH AFRICA to beat Wales by 3

SuperBru community pick: SOUTH AFRICA (99%) to beat Wales by 12

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp

Bench: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Lwazi Mvovo

Wales: 15-Liam Williams, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-George North, 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Mike Phillips, 8-Taulupe Faletau, 7-Aaron Shingler, 6-Dan Lydiate, 5-Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4-Luke Charteris, 3-Adam Jones, 2-Ken Owens, 1-Gethin Jenkins

Bench: 16-Matthew Rees, 17-Paul James, 18-Samson Lee, 19-Ian Evans, 20-Josh Turnbull, 21-Gareth Davies, 22-James Hook, 23-Matthew Morgan

20h00 – Canada v Scotland, BMO Field, Toronto

Prediction: SCOTLAND to beat Canada by 15

SuperBru community pick: SCOTLAND (96%) to beat Canada by 11

20h40 – Argentina v Ireland, Estadio Monumental, Tucuman

Prediction: IRELAND to beat Argentina by 14

SuperBru community pick: IRELAND (83%) to beat Argentina by 6

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best , 1 Dave Kilcoyne

Bench: 16 Rob Herring, 17 James Cronin, 18 Jack McGrath, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Noel Reid

Tue 17 Jun

09h35 – Crusaders v England, AMI Stadium, Christchurch

Prediction: CRUSADERS to beat England by 3

SuperBru community pick: ENGLAND (79%) to beat Crusaders by 7