The Māori All Blacks team to take on USA in Chicago this weekend has been named.
The Māori All Blacks will take on the USA Eagles at Toyota Park on Friday night, followed by the All Blacks against Ireland at Soldier Field on Saturday afternoon.
The starting line-up is as follows;
Four All Blacks players have been selected by Head Coach Colin Cooper in the starting line-up, including Elliot Dixon, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Rieko Ioane, and Damian Mckenzie.
"This is the most experienced squad we've had for a while, and many of the players who played for us last year have stepped up a level from there. It means that we have a really experienced playing 23, with only three new caps, starting with Kara Pryor who had a very good season with the Blues and then carried that into the Mitre 10 Cup. He was close to being named in the squad last year but was injured so it's good to be able to give him a start.
"Ash Dixon takes on the captaincy duties this year but really he's been part of the set up for a while. He has experience as a leader on the field, and with former captain Tim Bateman back in the mix, I know that the team will have some really solid decision makers on the field," Cooper says.
The match will kick off at 7:00pm Friday night Chicago time (Saturday 1:00pm NZDT)