Trio to line up as Classic All Blacks

Among the list of former All Blacks - widely regarded as some of the best rugby players of all time - to play against former French internationals in Queenstown later this year are three men who never got a test cap.

Kelvin Middleton, Charlie Hore and Deon Muir will line up alongside Christian Cullen, Andrew Mehrtens, Jeff Wilson, Tony Brown, Kees Meeuws, Reuben Thorne and Scott Robertson in the resort on September 18 as part of the Real New Zealand Festival supporting the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

While Middleton, who lives in Queenstown, was a stalwart of Otago and Highlanders rugby, he was never named in an All Black team, nor was Maniototo man Hore, the brother of All Black and Hurricanes captain Andrew Hore.

Muir, the former Waikato number 8 who made 101 appearances for his province, was named Telecom Super 12 Player of the Year in 2001. He did not make the All Blacks cut but he did captain the New Zealand Maori side in 1998, 2001 and 2002.

While the full team and the Classic France side are expected to be announced in the next month, the "superstars" of the Classic All Blacks team were released yesterday.

Cullen, widely regarded by his countrymen as being one of the best of all All Black fullbacks and one of the greatest All Blacks of his generation, will take the fullback spot again in Queenstown.

He will play along with first five-eighth Mehrtens,who retired from international rugby as the all-time leading points scorer for the All Blacks - a record surpassed only by current All Black first five-eighth Dan Carter.

Otago is well represented in the team, which also includes Jeff Wilson, a former double All Black (rugby and cricket) who scored 44 tries in 60 tests, making him the eighth-highest try scorer in rugby union history.

Other former Otago players are Kees Meeuws, who played in 42 tests for the All Blacks between 1998 and 2004 and current Highlander Tony Brown, with 18 All Black caps between 1999 and 2001.

Scott Robertson, a former Canterbury player who achieved 23 caps for the All Blacks between 1998 and 2002, has also been named in the line-up.

The September 18 fixture had been organised by Destination Queenstown in conjunction with Classic All Blacks convener Andy Haden and the Sevens with Altitude committee, which runs Queenstown's annual national sevens rugby tournament.

The French Classics team line-up will be confirmed by July 1.Seated area tickets will go on sale on July 4, available from TicketDirect, with general admission tickets sold on game day.