The All Blacks and Springboks clash for the 100th time in Test match rugby in a colossal showdown in round five of the Rugby Championship in Townsville on Saturday.
25 September
09h05
Queensland Country Bank Stadium
To Win (80 mins)
New Zealand 2/9
Draw 28/
South Africa 33/10
Handicap
New Zealand -12.5 9/10
South Africa (+12.5) 9/10
Much has been said about the results of the world champions’ last two outings against Australia. A series triumph over the British & Irish Lions and two opening-round wins against Argentina have long been forgotten after the Boks slumped to two humiliating losses against Dave Rennie’s Wallabies.
They’ve also slipped to No 2 in the world rankings after New Zealand’s good form.
The dream of matching John Smit’s great 2009 Bok team by following up a Lions series win with a southern hemisphere title is seemingly all but over, but Siya Kolisi’s band can still create history by beating the All Blacks in the upcoming two Tests.
Jacques Nienaber has made a few changes to his matchday squad, among them naming Kwagga Smith to start in place of Franco Mostert on the side of the scrum, and reinstating Lood de Jager to the starting XV in Marvin Orie’s place. Trevor Nyakane will earn a 50th Test cap at loosehead.
The set pieces will be key for the men in Green and Gold. If they are faulty at scrum and lineout time, the All Blacks’ counter-attacking ability could rip them to shreds like the Wallabies did last week.
For New Zealand, the absences of Aaron Smith, Sam Whitelock and Richie Mo’unga are certainly not ideal, but the depth at Ian Foster’s disposal means they can still field a team that expects to knock over the old enemy this week.
They’ll look to match the Boks upfront and give themselves plenty of room on attack to throw the pill around. Not unlike the ploy used by Quade Cooper in the third round, the likes of Beauden Barrett could look to utilise subtle kicks in behind the Boks’ rush D to exploit the space there.
In the 99 previous encounters between these two powerhouses, the All Blacks have recorded 59 wins to the Springboks’ 36, with four draws having played out. The Springboks have scored 1 577-points and 153-tries to the Kiwi’s 2 050-points and 225-tries. The average score is 21-16 in New Zealand’s favour.
Verdict: Springboks 33/10
No question here! Back the Boks to come right and hit back at the naysayers with a big win in Townsville. For those looking for a more conservative bet, back the Springboks on the +.
