As expected after the excellent win in Brisbane, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has named an unchanged side to face New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
“We’re very fortunate to have a touring squad of 28 fit players to choose from but following the performance last weekend against Australia, it made sense not to make any changes,” said Meyer.
“Continuity in selection has been something we wanted to address this year and I’m very happy that we’ve not been forced into making too many changes yet. The 23 who played against Australia deserved another chance this week as we believe in rewarding good form.
“I have faith in all the players in the squad and I feel we’ve now got to a situation where any player can come in at any stage without too much disruption.”
After beating Australia for the first time at Suncorp Stadium last weekend, the Springboks travelled to New Zealand where they will face the tough task of securing their first away victory over the All Blacks since 2009.
“We had a good win last weekend, but that is in the past now,” said Meyer.
“Playing the All Blacks in New Zealand is the ultimate challenge in rugby and one we’re very excited about facing.
“But the hard work is never done as we want to continuously improve as we evolve as a team, on all aspects of our game.
“We’re only halfway through the Rugby Championship with three very tough games ahead, but this weekend we’re facing the best team in the world and it will not be easy.”
Kick-off is at 09:35 on Saturday.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Bench: 16 Adriaan Strauss , 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
Should be a very close game. Ruan’s tactical kicking will be very important come Saturday and he will need to relieve the pressure from Steyn – he will need to provide quicker service to the flyhalf though. The Boks’ bench is without a doubt the strongest in world rugby and, with a forwards-dominated game in wet conditions, guys like Strauss, Oosthuizen and Kolisi may prove to be the difference. I’m leaning towards an All Black win though, by less than 5, and for Championship decider to take place at Ellis Park – the bonus-point win against the Argies may prove critical.
A good omen, bumps and bruises, no injuries. I hope that the weather plays along and the rain stays away. I reckon on last weeks performance, both teams, the Boks to win this one.