All Blacks unchanged for Boks
Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:34
Talking tough: Graham Henry wants more from his All Blacks
New Zealand coach Graham Henry has named an unchanged starting XV, from that which smashed Australia, for the Tri-Nations crunch match against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday.
Isaia Toeava comes onto the replacement bench in the only change to the matchday 22.
Henry said the decision to change his bench is to ensure they had cover at fullback.
"[Toeava] has played quite a bit at fullback and is currently playing provincial rugby at fullback for Auckland," the coach said.
"Obviously [Leon] MacDonald isn't here because of injury – we just needed to make sure we had that cover. He also gives us cover at wing and centre, as a utility player."
The Cape Town match is the penultimate Tri-Nations match for the All Blacks, with the final fixture against Australia in Brisbane in September.
New Zealand currently tops the Tri-Nations standings with 10 points from four games, followed by Australia (nine points from three games) and South Africa (five from three).
"Playing the Springboks in South Africa might be the biggest challenge in world rugby at the moment," Henry said in announcing the side.
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.
Date: Saturday, August 16
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England), James Leckie (Australia)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
