Veteran axed as All Blacks name team to face Springboks
· The South African
In perhaps the most notable change to the All Blacks team named for the third Test this weekend, experienced hooker Codie Taylor has fallen out of the matchday 23. His place is taken by burly Asafo Aumua, with Samisoni Taukei’aho coming onto the bench.
Sam Darry starts at lock in his 11th Test, while Fabian Holland moves to the bench.
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Peter Lakai will start in the No 6 jersey, and Wallace Sititi will make his first Test appearance in the series, coming into the 23 as a loose forward substitute.
The match kicks off at 17:10 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
HOW THE ALL BLACKS WILL LINE UP FOR THE THIRD TEST
ALL BLACKS – 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Peter Lakai, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 George Bower.
Bench: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby.
Milestone to note
In the first two Tests, three Springboks reached milestones in terms of appearances, and now it’s the turn of the All Blacks as Tupou Vaa’i will be playing his 50th Test.
“Tupes is a top man. It’ll be a special day for him and his family and additional motivation for us,” coach Dave Rennie said.
“With both teams heading into the third Test one apiece, there’s everything to play for on Saturday. The team that doesn’t win this weekend can’t win the series. That’s the kind of challenge we love to rise to.
“The team is feeling fresh after a full week’s lead in to the game and we can’t wait to put everything out on the park.”
MATCH FACTS
- As well as Vaa’i playing his 50th Test, there will also be other numerical milestones this weekend: Damian McKenzie will be playing his 80th Test, Will Jordan his 60th, Fletcher Newell his 40th, and Luke Jacobson his 30th.
- This is the ninth time in 13 Test series between New Zealand and South Africa that the results have been tied at one-all going into the Third test.
- The All Blacks have played twice previously at FNB Stadium, winning 29-22 in 2010 and 32-16 in 2012.
- With his 33rd Test try last week, Ardie Savea took the number of total Test tries for the Savea brothers to a world record of 79 for siblings (Julian Savea scored 46), passing the Barrett brothers mark of 78: Beauden has scored 45 tries, Jordie 26 and Scott seven.