All Blacks make one change for Bok clash
The All Blacks have made just one change to their team for their Rugby World Cup semi-final clash against the Springboks.
Cape Town - New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has made one change from the team that thrashed France 62-13 last week as the All Blacks face South Africa for a place in the Rugby World Cup final.
The defending champions have named Joe Moody in the starting line-up as a replacement for the injured Wyatt Crockett. As a result Ben Franks moves onto the bench.
“We’ve had a great preparation so far this week," Hansen told the All Blacks website.
'We’ve put a full stop on last weekend’s performance and have been slowly building throughout the week to produce another game we can all be proud of."
“Though we’ve met many times over the years, we’ve only played three times at the Rugby World Cup and these Cup finals matches are totally different. They have a live or die nature to them and both teams will be desperate to advance.
“As a group we’re really looking forward to this challenge. It will require a massive amount of intensity and composure and accurate skill execution. This team has high expectations of itself and enjoys the big occasions.
“We’re all very much looking forward to Saturday. It’s the fun part of the week where we get to express our skills, physicality and mental strength; all things we’ve been working really hard on this week.”
Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:00 SA time.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
New Zealand:
15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Substitutes 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams
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