Sonny Bill Williams is named in an All Black starting line-up for the first time since August 2012 as Steve Hansen picks a mixture of experience and youth in his side to take on the USA this weekend at Soldier Field.

Charles Piutau, TJ Perenara, Sam Cane, Patrick Tuipulotu, Jeremy Thrush, Charlie Faumuina, Nathan Harris and Joe Moody all get rare starts, while experinced heads like Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Aaron Cruden and Kieran Read are there to provide direction and stability.

“It’s another chance for those selected to pull on the jersey and play well. On this MyRepublic Northern Tour, we want to give all players in the squad the opportunity to grow their game – and we also want to develop our game as a team – and it starts on Saturday,” said Hansen.

“While we are giving a number of players another opportunity this weekend, our expectation is that they will play to the highest level and we get a quality performance.”

New Zealand team to play USA:

15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Victor Vito, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Joe Moody.

Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Daniel Carter, 23 Julian Savea.

Date: Saturday, November 1
Kick-off: 15:00 local (20:00 GMT)
Venue: Soldier Field Stadium, Chicago
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)