The two big winners from Round 1 go head-to-head in Auckland this Saturday and there’s loads riding on this game with the winner set to move into pole position for the 2023 Rugby Championship title.
New Zealand v South Africa
Saturday 15 July
Go Media Stadium
09:05
To Win
All Blacks 38/100 | Draw 28/1 | Springboks 19/10
The Kiwis will be relishing the chance to take their fiercest rivals with the World Cup looming large. The absence of South African sides in Super Rugby has no doubt weakened New Zealand rugby and this is evident if you look back on the Kiwi’s results from 2022 with reland winning a first ever series in ‘the land of the long white cloud’ while the French tour them apart in France. On those occasions the Kiwis were outmuscled by their European rivals.
After one of their worst seasons ever, the All Blacks were looking to fire a warning shot to the rest of the world in their Rugby Championship opener. And boy did they do just that beating the Argentines 12-41 in Mendoza.
While the Argentines were not at their best, a somewhat new look All Black side produced one of the best backline performances they have had in recent years. Damien McKenzie, while having a shaky start to the game, added an extra dimension at fly-half and thrived in a far looser system than the one All Blacks implemented in 2022. The Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane combination in the centers looked very promising while Beauden Barrett produced a fine display at fullback.
All six tries from the Springboks' win over the Wallabies with isiXhosa commentary 🎙️@SpurRestaurant pic.twitter.com/6exN8rjOqf
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 12, 2023
While South Africa had already named their side at the time of writing, New Zealand had not. I personally suspect a minimal amount of changes to their run-on side with the two Bledisloe Cup games against the Wallabies likely to be used as rotational opportunities.
Like their opponents for Saturday, the South Africans gave a very good account of themselves in Round 1 as they hammered Australia 43-12 at Loftus. While it wasn’t the strongest Springbok side, it was still loaded with experienced players with Duane Vermeulen, Willie Le Roux, Lukhanyo Am, Cobus Reinach and a wily frontrow producing solid displays. The two standouts were Kurt-Lee Arense and Andre Esterhuizen with the former bagging a hat-trick and the latter an absolute rock in midfield.
With South Africa having already sent half their squad to New Zealand prior to their clash with the Wallabies, we knew there would be a huge amount of changes. Ten changes have been made for the clash with All Blacks with Eben Etzebeth getting the captains armband, Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi taking over on the wings, Faf de Klerk taking over from Cobus Reinach at scrum-half and Damien Willemse and Damien de Allende taking over the ten and 12 jerseys. There’s also a new look loose trio and Lood De Jager joins the captain in the second row in place of Marvin Orie.
Verdict: South Africa at (7.5) 17/20
This should be a very tight game with both sides knowing that the winner of this one is likely to win the Rugby Championship. I reckon the Springboks will keep it within the handicap.
Teams
All Blacks
15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith; 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (c), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Subs: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Dalton Papali’i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Braydon Ennor, 23 Caleb Clarke.
Springboks
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Duane Vermeulen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.
