The All Blacks have a new captain for their season-finale against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday (NZ time).
With Kieran Read missing out with a back injury related to his hip problem, lock Sam Whitelock will lead the world champions for the first time.
Whitelock will become the 69th captain of the All Blacks and the fourth the All Blacks have used on their northern tour.
- Kieran Read out of All Blacks' Test against Wales, Sam Whitelock named captain
- Wales make 12 changes to their squad for Test against All Blacks
Beauden Barrett was named tour captain and led New Zealand in their first match against the Barbarians, but has been overlooked this time by coach Steve Hansen.
But speaking to the media, Hansen said he doesn't want to put too much pressure on his star first-five.
"Whilst he enjoyed being the skipper (against the Barbarians), I think he'd prefer just to concentrate on the 10 role," Hansen told reporters
"The second reason is that he's the driver, so you don't want to overload him too much in a big Test match."
With Barrett out of the discussion, it came down to Whitelock and Sam Cane.
Cane has captained the All Blacks twice in his career, but Hansen decided to go with Whitelock as he is more likely to play the full 80 minutes against the Welsh.
"He [Whitelock] was successful. [The Crusaders] won the title and he has been a natural leader in our group for some time. It was going to be either him or Sam Cane, and Whitelock - bar injury - is probably going to play 80 minutes. That was the deciding factor in the end."
He will be the second Whitelock to captain the All Blacks on the tour, after his brother Luke captained the side against a French XV.
Fellow Crusader Codie Taylor believes Whitelock will relish in the role of leading his country.
"He'll probably fit in seamlessly in terms of the way Reado captains the side," Taylor said.
"Sam likes to take control and be real direct with the information that he shares on the field. I'd say he'd be pretty pumped and ready to get stuck in."
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