Sam Cane has been named to start for the All Blacks against South Africa on Sunday morning, in one of two changes to the starting XV.
Cane will make his first start for the All Blacks since last year’s Rugby World Cup final at openside flanker, with captain Scott Barrett to make his return from a finger injury to take his place in the starting lineup at lock.
Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan again favoured on the wings and Tamaiti Williams holding down the loosehead prop with Ethan de Groot (neck) ruled out of the two-test tour.
On the bench, Sam Darry remains in the match-day squad in a reserve role with Barrett’s return, while Samipeni Finau will provide cover in the loose forwards.
“To play South Africa at Ellis Park is one of the greatest tests you can prepare for; we will embrace the occasion,” All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said.
“We have a lot of respect for the Springboks and we are looking forward to what will be an electric atmosphere at an iconic venue.”
All Blacks: 15. Beauden Barrett 14. Will Jordan 13. Rieko Ioane 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Caleb Clarke 10. Damian McKenzie 9. TJ Perenara 8. Ardie Savea 7. Sam Cane 6. Ethan Blackadder 5. Tupou Vaa’i 4. Scott Barrett (c) 3. Tyrel Lomax 2. Codie Taylor 1. Tamaiti Williams
Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Sam Darry 20. Samipeni Finau 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Mark Tele’a
Listen live: All Blacks vs South Africa, live on Newstalk ZB, GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, 3am Sunday
Etzebeth fit as South Africa name side to face All Blacks
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been given the green light to face the All Blacks at Ellis Park.
Etzebeth, who was initially sidelined with knee injury concerns, has now been named on the replacements bench for the Rugby Championship showdown by head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Erasmus’ call means Etzebeth steps in for Marco van Staden, who drops out of the matchday squad, with Etzebeth providing specialist lock cover alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje in the starting lineup.
Should he get game time, the test will mark Etzebeth’s 125th in the green jersey, which will see him move ahead of Bryan Habana as the second-most capped Springbok and take one step closer to Victor Matfield’s South African test record of 127 caps.
“Our selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco,” said Erasmus.
“There were back-up options for us at lock in the initial squad, but with Eben on the bench it means we have another specialist in that position in the team.
“We are blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 players who have all bought into our plans and who understand what’s best for the team, and it’s admirable how Marco accepted the news. It shows the quality of the player and person he is.”
South Africa: 1. Ox Nche, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 3. Frans Malherbe, 4. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 5. Ruan Nortje, 6. Siya Kolisi (c), 7. Ben-Jason Dixon, 8. Jasper Wiese, 9. Cobus Rienach, 10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12. Damian de Allene, 13. Jesse Kriel, 14. Cheslin Kolbe, 15. Aphelele Fassi
Reserves: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Gerhard Steenekamp, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. Eben Etzebeth, 20. Elrigh Louw, 21. Kwagga Smith, 22. Grant Williams, 23. Handre Pollard
