SYDNEY - Akira Ioane will make his long-awaited Test debut for New Zealand after three years on the fringes of the squad as one of four new caps named by Ian Foster to face Australia in their Tri-Nations clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
Ioane will start at blindside flanker for the clash at Lang Park, with Shannon Frizell dropping out of the matchday squad after he started the last three games against the Wallabies.
"Akira deserves to start," Foster told reporters from Sydney on a conference call. "It has felt like it's been a long time to earn a start and sometimes patience is a good thing.
"(But) it's not easy to get into the All Blacks. It's not easy to get into the 23," he added.
"He has gone away and made some shifts and we saw that through the Blues campaign."
Ioane will join younger brother Rieko, who has been brought back onto the left wing to replace Caleb Clarke, after he started the test season at centre but was then named on the bench last week, where he scored a try.
The Ioanes join all three Barrett brothers in the starting side, with Jordie shifting from wing to fullback, while Beauden moves into his preferred flyhalf role to replace Richie Mo'unga, who has been rested.
Scott Barrett has also been given a start after he recovered from foot surgery and played the last two games from the bench.
Uncapped loose forward Cullen Grace, hooker Asafo Aumua and utility back Will Jordan are expected to make their debuts from the bench and Foster said the message to all four was simple.
"Do their job," Foster added. "The key thing is to not get over-aroused and feel like they're Superman.
"They really just have to do what they've done in order to get here ... and we ask them to trust that."
Reuters