LIVE COVERAGE: USA v All Blacks

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Live Coverage. Rugby Union. USA v All Blacks
Live Blog Live Coverage: All Blacks v USA

What: End of Year Tour match – All Blacks vs USA Eagles
When: Kick-off Sunday, November 2 at 9am (NZT)
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago
I can watch it on: Sky Sport

What they did last time:
The All Blacks scored a try on the stroke of fulltime and Colin Slade kicked the conversion in a tense 29-28 win over Australia two weeks ago. The last gasp win followed up a similarly nail-biting 27-25 loss to South Africa.

The Eagles beat Uruguay 30-5 in the Americas Rugby Championship, where they also defeated Canada and lost to Argentina Jaguars – the Argentines’ second team.

What you need to know:
Soldier Field is home to the Chicago Bears NFL team. American rugby fans sold out the stadium a week in advance of the game.

The Eagles played the New Zealand Maori side in November last year, putting on a great show in a 29-19 loss to the Kiwis.

Sonny Bill Williams is expected to play for the All Blacks for the first time since 2012.

High-profile All Blacks including captain Richie McCaw, Aaron Smith, Sam Whitelock and Owen Franks are all expected to be rested.

Dan Carter is finally fit, but could be on the bench in favour of Aaron Cruden who will start his first match in the black jersey since hitting the bottle too hard and missing a team meeting.

Yes, the All Blacks will win handily, but the match is seen as a stepping stone in the USA’s progression from second tier rugby playing nation, to first tier.

Did you know?
New Zealand first played the USA way back in 1913 in Berkeley, California. New Zealand won 51-3.   Their next meeting was an exhibition match in San Diego in 1980, won 53-6 by the Kiwis. The most recent Test match was at the 1991 Rugby World Cup in England where the ABs won 46-6.

The USA has never scored a try against the All Blacks. All points in the three matches played to date have been penalties.

Over 1.4 million people are registered rugby players in America. That’s second only to England in sheer numbers participating.

Say what:
Steve Hansen spoke to All Blacks TV about sightseeing in America’s third largest city.

“It’s exciting coming to a new place and not many people have been to Chicago. It’s a very sporting town and there’s a lot happening. There’ll be a bit of stargazing I guess, ‘look at that, look at that’ but other than that, it’ll just be another Test match.

“We’re showcasing rugby in the states and our expectations are that we’ve gotta play well and put on something special to try and promote the game, particularly the All Black brand. The States are a big side, they’re certainly not lacking in size and pace and we’ll have to prepare well as we always do and go out and play well.”

Our prediction:
The All Blacks by plenty, but everyone will have a great time.

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