Boks will miss Matfield, Vermeulen - Read
The Springboks have made eight changes to the side that went down 24-20 to Australia last weekend. A number of those changes were forced through injury.
Despite the number of changes, All Blacks eightman Kieran Read said he wasn’t paying too much attention to the Boks' team selection earlier this week
“I guess the coaches keep an eye on it, I don’t read too much of the local press, my Afrikaans isn’t that good,” the eighthman joked.
“We certainly look at who’s playing and we can better idea of their little nuances and what they do.”
The Boks’ lineout master Victor Matfield is out of action for a few weeks after picking up a hamstring strain last weekend. The Boks will certainly miss his experience at the set-piece but Read believes the Boks will do fine despite his absence.
"It potentially changes a little bit. He takes a lot of it on himself when he’s playing so they will have to spread the load a little bit more than they usually would. But they’re pretty smart and he’ll probably still be running it anyway and they’ve got some pretty talented guys that will step up in his place.”
Many rugby fans would give an arm and a leg to see Read and Duane Vermeulen go head to head. But with the Stormers eighthman still laid low by injury, Read will take on the highly experienced Schalk Burger – who will captain the Boks in Matfield’s absence this weekend.
“It doesn’t make any difference for me. I guess it’s more about what kind of style they want out of their number eight. Schalk brings that physical presence and leads the team,” Read said.
The All Black also tipped his hat to Lions captain and eighthman Warren Whiteley, who forced his way into the Bok fold after a fantastic Super Rugby tournament.
“I’ve been impressed with how Warren has taken his game to another level. He certainly is more of a link man and is great with ball in hand. He’s shown his pace and ability to link with the backs – so it’s more about the style they want to play,” Read said.
But he admitted that Vermeulen’s absence would always be felt and said he relished his battles against the Springbok hard man.
“I think it’s disappointing that he’s under the injury cloud and I hope for his sake he gets mended and comes right for the World Cup. It’s a big loss for them but they’ve got some pretty good guys in there as well but I always like playing against Duane,” Reid said.
The All Blacks named their side to face the Springboks this morning.
Kick off on Saturday is at 17h05 pm.
Teams:
New Zealand: 15-Israel Dagg, 14-Ben Smith, 13-Conrad Smith, 12-Ma'a Nonu, 11-Charles Piutau, 10-Lima Sopoaga, 9-Aaron Smith, 8-Kieran Read, 7-Richie McCaw (captain), 6-Liam Messam, 5-James Broadhurst, 4-Brodie Retallick, 3-Owen Franks, 2-Dane Coles, 1-Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16-Codie Taylor, 17-Wyatt Crockett, 18-Ben Franks, 19-Sam Whitelock, 20-Victor Vito, 21-TJ Perenara, 22-Beauden Barrett, 23-Malakai Fekitoa.
South Africa: 15. Willie le Roux, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Bryan Habana,10. Handré Pollard, 9. Ruan Pienaar,8. Schalk Burger (capt), 7. Francois Louw, 6. Heinrich Brussow, 5. Lood de Jager, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16. Adriaan Strauss, 17, Trevor Nyakane, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. Flip van der Merwe, 20. Warren Whiteley, 21. Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe