RECAP: New Zealand v South Africa
READERS’ FORUM: Welcome to our live coverage of the Rugby Championship[ Round Five encounter between New Zealand and South Africa in Townsville.
This is set to be the 100th Test played between New Zealand and South Africa; the All Blacks have logged 59 wins and four draws from their previous 99 encounters with the Springboks.
South Africa boast a 36 percent win rate against New Zealand in men’s Tests, the highest of any team to have faced them and 10 percentage points higher than next-best ranked Australia (26 percent).
However, the Springboks have won only one of their last 10 meetings with the All Blacks (draw one and lost eight).
* To read our pre-match predictions, CLICK HERE!
* Our live blog will appear below, it might take a little while to load, please be patient. We apologise for the inconvenience!
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 David Havili, 11 George Bridge, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Quinn Tupaea.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sibusiso Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Albertus Smith, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Francois Mostert, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Jordan Way and Reuben Keane
TMO: Damon Murphy
