Thursday 9 November 2017 15:34, UK
Vaea Fifita will start for New Zealand against France in the All Blacks' second game of their autumn northern hemisphere tour.
Fifita has been selected as blindside flanker for the match in Paris after first choice Liam Squire and the veteran Jerome Kaino were ruled out.
Fifita, who plays for Wellington and the Hurricanes, is one of the country's rising stars and will be looking to impress ahead of further Tests against Scotland and Wales this month.
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen said: "He is still very much at the learning stage. We'll see how far he has come in that short time"
The 25-year-old made a big impression in his first Test start as he scored a match-winning try against Argentina in the Rugby Championship.
The team will also feature several senior players including captain Kieran Read, Dane Coles, Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith, Sonny Bill Williams and Ryan Crotty.
"This weekend is another opportunity for us to continue growing our standards, our game and our skill sets," said Hansen.
"If we can do that and put in a complete 80-minute game, we'll go a long way to putting in a performance we can be proud of.
"Having said that, France are an exciting team and playing France in Paris is one of the biggest challenges in rugby."
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 1 Kane Hames, 2 Dane Coles, 3 Nepo Laulala, 4 Luke Romano, 5 Sam Whitelock, 6 Vaea Fifita, 7 Sam Cane, 8 Kieran Read (c).
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
