Dave Rennie has rebuilt his forward pack for the test that will decide the series against South Africa, naming a side on Thursday night that hands Asafo Aumua the starting hooker jersey and pushes Fabian Holland to the bench.
The third test of the four match series is at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday. Kick off is 5.10pm local time, which is 3.10am on Sunday in New Zealand.
The changes are all in the tight five and the loose forwards. Aumua starts at hooker with Samisoni Taukei’aho named among the reserves. Sam Darry comes into the second row for his 11th test and Holland, who started the first two matches, drops to the bench. Peter Lakai moves from the reserves into the number six jersey, and Wallace Sititi is named in a match day 23 for the first time in this series as loose forward cover.
Ardie Savea captains the side from number eight in his 112th test. The backline that started in Cape Town is unchanged, with Cam Roigard and Ruben Love in the halves, Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea in the midfield, and Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan and Leroy Carter in the back three.
Tupou Vaa’i shifts across to partner Darry in the second row for his 50th test. He is not the only one reaching a round number this weekend. McKenzie plays his 80th test, Jordan his 60th, Fletcher Newell his 40th and Luke Jacobson his 30th.
“Tupes is a top man. It’ll be a special day for him and his family and additional motivation for us,” Rennie said in the team announcement.
The series is level at one win each and the maths is unforgiving. The All Blacks won the opening test 33-16 at Ellis Park on 22 August, scoring five tries to one after trailing early in the second half. The Springboks hit back in Cape Town on 29 August, winning 33-26 with Cheslin Kolbe’s goal kicking the difference. New Zealand scored four tries to three in that match, through Roigard, McKenzie, Carter and Savea, and still lost.
Because the fourth and final test is played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on 12 September, a loss on Saturday leaves either side unable to win the series outright. Rennie put it plainly.
“With both teams heading into the third Test one apiece, there’s everything to play for on Saturday. The team that doesn’t win this weekend can’t win the series. That’s the kind of challenge we love to rise to,” he said.
He also said the squad had come through a normal week rather than the short turnaround of a midweek fixture. “The team is feeling fresh after a full week’s lead in to the game and we can’t wait to put everything out on the park,” Rennie said.
Johannesburg sits about 1,750 metres above sea level and the thin air shaped the first test. The All Blacks absorbed heavy pressure through the opening half hour at Ellis Park, then won the second half 21 points to three as the Springbok pack tired. The plan for Saturday appears to be more of the same, with the difference that the All Blacks want a better start.
“We spoke about trying to start well and we did the opposite. It’s always hard when you’re chasing the scoreboard,” Roigard told the NZ Herald after the Cape Town loss, pointing to the breakdown as the area where South Africa slowed New Zealand down.
South Africa named its side early, as it has done through the series. Siya Kolisi captains the team, and there is a forced change in the back three after Damian Willemse was hurt in Cape Town. Kolbe moves to fullback and Kurt-Lee Arendse comes onto the wing.
“Unfortunately, Damian Willemse took a knock in the first half and was not available for selection this weekend, and neither was Handré Pollard, and by sticking to these combinations and making one switch with Cheslin at fullback, we thought it would be the best for this match,” South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said, as reported by The Citizen.
Erasmus said Arendse had been unlucky to miss the second test once Kolbe recovered from a niggle. “He is a quality player and his 25 tries in 33 matches so far shows the type of player he is,” Erasmus said.
The test is not the only New Zealand side in action at FNB Stadium on Saturday. The Black Ferns play South Africa there at 1.30pm local time in the first meeting between the two women’s teams on South African soil, a curtain raiser to the men’s test.
FNB Stadium, on the edge of Soweto, holds more than 90,000 people and hosted the 2010 football World Cup final. It is a bigger venue than Ellis Park, where the series opened.
Rennie said the tour had drawn support from both ends of the country. The team had “really felt the support not only from our travelling army of Kiwi fans and fans here in South Africa, but also the New Zealand public back home”, he said.
The match is live on Sky Sport. For anyone planning to watch, it is an early Sunday morning in New Zealand.
Will the forward changes be enough to win the series in Johannesburg, or does this one go to Baltimore. Leave a comment below and tell us how you see Saturday morning playing out.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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