What the All Blacks make of Springboks line-up changes

Both the All Blacks and Springboks have rotated their line-ups for this weekend’s rematch at Ellis Park following a sizeable 26-10 victory for the Springboks in Mbombela last weekend.

The All Blacks have swapped in two fresh props while also bringing Shannon Frizell and Richie Mo’unga into the mix, whereas South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber has opted to shift Malcolm Marx to the bench, reintroduced Duane Vermeulen and brought in the experienced Jesse Kriel on the right wing for the suspended Kurt-Lee Arendse.

While Bongi Mbonambi was originally named in the Springboks No 2 jersey for Saturday, a training ground injury has seen Joseph Dweba take Mbonambi’s spot in the starting line-up with Marx – who caused the All Black countless issues at the breakdown last week – remaining on the bench.

Although Marx has become somewhat of a bench specialist in recent seasons, the fact that he was so instrumental in the Springboks’ win at Mbombela Stadium gave many reason to believe that he would be retained in the starting line-up.

But was All Blacks head coach Ian Foster caught out by the change?

“Not really,” he told media on Thursday after naming his team for the rematch. “It’s where he’s always been played the last couple of years. They promoted him for his 50th (Test appearance) so back to the normal formula.”

Similarly, Foster wasn’t surprised to see 36-year-old Vermeulen – who has yet to take the field for the Springboks this year due to thumb and knee injuries – back in the 23.

“It’s a bit like Malcolm Marx going to the bench – it’s back to their formula, isn’t it?” Foster said. “He’s a quality player and I’m sure the intentions always were to get him back in there. They’ve got a great one-two punch with their number 8s so whichever way round, it was going to be a challenge.

“We’ve got great respect for Duane, he’s a great rugby player and so again, I just think it’s a formula that they know and trust and it’s up to us to deal with it.”

With Mbonambi out of action, Dweba will make just his third Test start when he runs out in the No 2 jersey this weekend. 69-cap All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor, who has been named on the bench for the Ellis Park fixture after sitting out last Saturday’s defeat, said that even without Mbonambi, New Zealand would face a sizeable challenge bringing the starting Springboks rake to the ground.

“He’s a solid bugger, isn’t he?” Taylor said of the dynamic Dweba. “I’ve sort of seen from afar the explosive man he is. He’s obviously a big unit. Pretty impressed with the way he goes about things on the field.

“I know he’ll be looking forward to this opportunity himself and getting to run out there. I had a talk to him a couple of weeks ago around him hopefully getting a crack so it’s good to see that he is.”

Saturday’s clash will kick off at 5:05pm SAST.