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Recap: All Blacks v Springboks LIVE | Rugby Championship
Follow all the action from the second round of The Rugby Championship live on RugbyPass as New Zealand host South Africa at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
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If the Springboks beat the All Blacks by more than 15 points, the Kiwis will lose their No1 ranking to Wales, who would take over the mantle for the first time in their history.
The matchday Kiwi squad selected by Steve Hansen sees a wealth of experience return following last weekend’s opening round 20-16 win away to Argentina.
Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Owen Franks form the starting front row, with last week’s front row of Ofa Tuungafasi, Dane Coles and Angus Ta’avao on the bench.
(Continue reading below…)
Samuel Whitelock joins Brodie Retallick in the starting second row, Shannon Frizell is at blindside flanker, with Vaea Fifita moving to the bench, while Matt Todd is at seven and captain Kieran Read at the back of the scrum. Dalton Papalii provides loose forward cover on the bench.
In the backs, TJ Perenara will start at half-back and Aaron Smith is on the bench, Beauden Barrett moves to full-back to make way for Richie Mo’unga at 10, Sonny Bill Williams returns at 12 inside Jack Goodhue at centre.
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Rieko Ioane is on the left wing, and with Barrett at full-back, Ben Smith moves to the right wing. Anton Lienert-Brown and George Bridge are the other back reserves.
? WATCH | Ever wondered how many punnets of chips are sold at an All Blacks match? The Stadium CEO gives us some interesting numbers before Saturday's match, and lets us know what it's like to work at an All Blacks test match.#NZLvRSA #BACKBLACK pic.twitter.com/t78wBhSrYg
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 26, 2019
Meanwhile, South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus has named a much-changed side from the one that defeated the Wallabies last weekend by 35-17 in Johannesburg.
Eben Etzebeth (lock), last weekend’s Bok captain, and Pieter-Steph du Toit (loose forward) are the only two forwards retained from that win, with Makazole Mapimpi (wing) the only backline player in the starting line-up who also started.
The rest of the Springbok starting line-up consists mainly of the group of players who travelled to New Zealand two days before the opening round match.
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Willie le Roux returns at full-back while Cheslin Kolbe is drafted in on the right wing. Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am form a familiar-looking midfield pairing and they will play next to Handré Pollard (fly-half) and Faf de Klerk (scrum-half).
Vermeulen, du Toit and Kwagga Smith (flanker) form the loose trio, with the former Blitzbok speedster set to earn his second start following his international debut last year against Wales in Washington.
Franco Mostert partners Etzebeth in the second row and Malcolm Marx (hooker) is joined in the front row by Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe.
Check out the #Springbok team photo session earlier today in Wellington??
@Official_Bozza @MTNza @SuperSportTV @SuperRugby @LandRoverZA @FNBSA #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/JWr9PiB2Et— Springboks (@Springboks) July 26, 2019
The forwards’ bench consists of Bongi Mbonambi, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, RG Snyman and Francois Louw, while Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn and Jesse Kriel are the replacement backs.
NEW ZEALAND – 15. Beauden Barrett (caps 74); 14. Ben Smith (77), 13. Jack Goodhue (7), 12. Sonny Bill Williams (51), 11. Rieko Ioane (24); 10. Richie Mo’unga (9), 9. TJ Perenara (55); 1. Joe Moody (37), 2. Codie Taylor (41), 3. Owen Franks (106), 4. Brodie Retallick (76), 5. Samuel Whitelock (108), 6. Shannon Frizell (4), 7. Matt Todd (17), 8. Kieran Read – captain (118). Reps: 16. Dane Coles (61), 17. Ofa Tuungafasi (27), 18. Angus Ta’avao (4), 19. Vaea Fifita (10), 20. Dalton Papalii (2), 21. Aaron Smith (83), 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (34), 23. George Bridge (1).
SOUTH AFRICA – 15. Willie le Roux (53 caps); 14. Cheslin Kolbe (7), 13. Lukhanyo Am (6), 12. Damian de Allende (37), 11. Makazole Mapimpi (5); 10. Handré Pollard (39), 9. Faf de Klerk (21); 1. Steven Kitshoff (37), 2. Malcolm Marx (24), 3. Frans Malherbe (29), 4. Eben Etzebeth (76), 5. Franco Mostert (29), 6. Kwagga Smith (1), 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (47), 8. Duane Vermeulen – captain (46). Reps: 16. Bongi Mbonambi (27), 17. Tendai Mtawarira (108), 18. Trevor Nyakane (38), 19. RG Snyman (12), 20. Francois Louw (66), 21. Herschel Jantjies (1), 22. Frans Steyn (57), 23. Jesse Kriel (41).
WATCH: The insightful RugbyPass documentary with Nemani Nadolo, the Fijian playing at Montpellier
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments