The most anticipated game of The Rugby Championship sees the All Blacks host the Springboks in what is shaping as another classic at Eden Park. We’ll have live scores from 5.35pm AEST.
The world’s number one side come into tonight with a perfect 6-0 record from their Tests in 2013, breezing to a clean sweep of the French in June and then overpowering the Wallabies (twice) and Pumas in The Rugby Championship.
Yet there is the sense that save for a handful of short spells against the Wallabies, the All Blacks have hardly been pushed.
That should change tonight when they welcome Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks, arguably the form team of the tournament.
After humiliating the Pumas in Johannesburg, the Springboks then scrapped a 22-17 win in Mendoza before blowing the Australians out of the water in a 38-12 win in Brisbane, their first victory in eight attempts in the city.
Unsurprisingly, Meyer has named an unchanged starting XV to take on the All Blacks but the same cannot be said for the hosts.
An knee injury to skipper Richie McCaw will keep him out of the remainder of The Rugby Championship, though he could return for the third Bledisloe Cup game in Dunedin.
Sam Cane will come in at openside in place of the 119-Test veteran, while Liam Messam also returns at six after overcoming a hamstring injury.
Up front, Dane Coles and Owen Franks come in for Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore respectively, while Ma’a Nonu returns at second-five.
Against what is certain to be a physical sub-battle against Bismarck du Plessis, Coles’ inclusion could prove to be a pivotal factor in a game that very well could be decided in the forwards.
But a cursory glance across the All Blacks starting XV is a suitable reminder that they possess quality in every position, and names such as Read, Dagg, Carter, Smith, Whitelock there are plenty of match-winners out there.
In front of what is expected to be a bulging Eden Park crowd of 58,000 this one will be a superb Test.
Join us for live scores from 5.35pm AEST.
G2GKiwi
Guest
FuffuZealah.. its irrelevant & not our problem if you dont get it. Its a war cry/challenge/celebration dance and is meant to signifie to all others who oppose us that we stand strong, without fear, ready to take you head on. In different variations, It has been apart of nz sport teams for over 100 years, being performed both domesticly & internationaly. Its not about whether you think its not getting the respect it deserves, as us kiwis dont look or need approval or acceptance from the world to be proud of the traditions of our native people, in part concentrate on your fellas own backyard, as you can see our boys are doing just fine:)
balls
Guest
So... did the All Blacks beat the Boks 1 on 1 in the weekend? From what I saw, they did. And with 14 players for 20 minutes... Hold on, perhaps they are better than the Springboks, and you are just a little jealous? You can tell a lot about someone by the way they lose. You should learn to be gracious in defeat.
allan
Guest
Ja Hannes 1 if they stop using a guy to run on the field with a traditional weapon,He will only be there for a few minutes.Facing the Haka and dealing with same guys for 80min is totally different.But i give the boks a better chance this time.Cant wait for Ellispark Boet.
Hannes Marais
Guest
Who thinks that the Boks are gona win at Ellis Park against the All Blacks? If you think the Springboks are gona win, reply with the No 1 and if you think the All Blacks are gonna win reply with the No 2.
Hannes Marais
Guest
Yeah Allan I agree, you have some good points. You are obviously someone who knows your rugby well, are you a kiwi? I guess so. I guess what frustrates me the most is that the Boks can lose and lose and then all of a sudden win the World cup on the day...they are never consistent...a putters nightmare. They have their days, and yes it irritates me when the forwards are forever in the backline, don't know why Rugby overall has changed like that, where the old days when, backs were backs and forwards were forwards, and every now on then one could witness some awesome backline moves,....but now the move starts and then some dumb fat forward knocks it. Can't handle it. But on the otherside what other sport in the world has a position for a fatty (prop), a tall guy (lock), a short boytjie (scrumhalf), a staunch guy (centre) a skinny fast guy (wing)...such a beautiful sport it has a position for all sorts of guys. Nevertheless the Boks can and probably will beat the All Blacks next game, but it would be like kissing your sister, ..they should have won the first game aswell.
allan
Guest
Hi Hannes,So we agree on what is needed to beat the Allblacks .Unfortunately we dont pick the team.Lambs for me is better at Fullback but his not big enough for the coach.Goosen when available can slot in at flyhalf.Piet v Zyl is better than Ruan.As for JJ replace him with someone who can tackle backline players dont leave it to your forwards.Yes the Allblacks are beatable just look at what England did not so long ago.Other than being physical you need to be mentally prepared to beat the AB's. still think think the boks need to play 80min+ to beat the AB's.
Hannes Marais
Guest
At Allan...yeah you have a point mate, Jannie Du Plessis can't tackle to save his life, the All Blacks targetted him, because he is just like a big hippo, can't turn quickly to make a tackle hehehe .....and yes will someone please tell JJ next time when the game starts, so tat he can get involved...and if Morne gets injured we will have to go with Lamby, should b OK, and Kirsner is not Springbok quality, not sure why he is there, mabe because he already had a passport hehehe...and sure all respect to the All Blacks they have always been and will probably always be bloody good, but I think the time has come where the Boks are going to start winning some more games against them.
allan
Guest
If everybody should be allowed to run with their elbows raised towards a opposing player just imagine the injuries players would get. And who would want to make tackles thus spoiling this beautiful game of rugby.Rugby is a contact sport but should be played within the rules.Otherwise we should get helmuts to protrect players against the likes of Bismarck and Nonu.This is rugby not American football.Stop moaning about the game there's a lot of stuff going on the field that we dont get to see.Incidents that involve boks as well they are no angels.
tyron
Guest
case in point,look at Boks vs Wallabies game when quade cooper jumped and hit bryan habana in the face.Neither the ref nor touch judge saw but yet we didnt see Bok players or Habana jump up and pummel him even though he deserved it.Ordinarily i would say its an accident but looking at Coopers record its hard to believe it was an accident.
tyron
Guest
it was clearly an accident,BDP clearly didnt do it on purpose as majority of supports claim otherwise.Rugby is a contact sport that only few can handle.In south africa the kids who cant handle contact play hockey,if kiwi guys cant handle contact especially and accident i suggest they submit their CV's to the black caps.
allan
Guest
I can understand your frustration with the ref Hannes and everybody who wants to look at how the allblacks transgressons was overlooked but i think if u look at how poor the boks defence was you must admit they only had themself to blame and JDV said it himself.You dont need 15 men to either stop Kieran or Sam Cane from goin over the try line .Bismark is indeed the best hooker in the world today but. the Allblacks showed in the past they can deal with him in the team.You can have all the possesion in the world but if you dont know what to do with it with Ruan at scrumhalve you are goin to struggle to score against good defences.I also dont rate Zane and Willie and JJ need to be replaced asp.And here is your problem nobody to replace in key positions what if Morne gets tackled like Carter who would you replace him with.
kelefua
Guest
Wow last time I read comments on this article it was the ref now it's moved onto the haka. Ellis Park hurry up before some of these guys injury themselves:)
Wal the Hooker
Guest
+1
Wal the Hooker
Guest
+ 100 BB, always a pleasure reading your posts mate. Yeah reckon we all take a deep breath and be gracious. Pity it wasn't the game we all wanted, ref sure did take the contest away. But you're right the Boks needed to temper their aggression with control and a much more ball in hand game IMO. They looked real strong when the pack drives together, alas not too often though. I think Beauden Barrett may have come of age in this one and I couldn't argue with Sam Cane's courage either. The kids played strong. Guess that's the upside of the unfortunate injuries the ABs sustained, gives these blokes a chance. Here's to cracker in SA.
Red Kev
Guest
So now that the IRB has called it a mistake and Dan Carter himself has tweeted that it was a legal tackle will you accept that you are wrong?
FuffuZealah
Guest
Yah, welcome back Boks. Whenever we got close to the opponents goal line, I must commend Pienaar on his flat Du Preez style passing, and that grubber that set up our first try was true. I see Pienaars game growing. Quick front foot ball, without any hands in the rucks slowing it down, see, Du Preez is always one of the first there, and so casual. The opponents are left wanting for a evenly spread defence. You wouldn't want a clone. but if Andre Joubert is the Rolls Royce of fullbacks :P, then Du Preez can be dubbed the Timewarp of skrumhalves. So I'm ampt to see you guys running out on Ellis Park bringing the Rocky Horror Picture Show to our humble guests knocking at the front door of the castle. Oh why did the damn French kick us out of the World Cup before we could meet the Boks in the final, we would have taken the Cup that year. Change the name please, it's okey...
Hannes Marais
Guest
Allan...let's go over the game a bit..in the first 5 min Kirchenr jumped for a high ball and ref said he knocked it? Big screen showed that it was actually an All Black who knocked it...then the Bischmark incident ...enough said, it was a legal tackle...then also Ruan rushes up on an All Black free kick and was stopped , when the IRB rules state that as soon as a player with a free kick moves the others can attack,...this was all on the South African TV news last night. Then Nunus tackle was HIGH, LATE , DANGEROUS and DELLIBERATE...so can we really read anything from this game, and yes the All Blacks will probably come over to SA with a B team, but that's their problem if their players can't handle a rough game, then they also doesn't deserve to be No 1. That weekend I will be smiling and won't have my wife shouting at me to calm down. Hehehe
allan
Guest
The boks seem to think that having these big forwards will give them the edge over the Allblacks.It will work against the Ausies who's backs cannot tackle and with ball in hand are easy targets cause they their forwards are to slow to protect the ball at breakdown.That is why the Allblacks have a more superior win ratio against the boks home and in South Africa.For the record i predict a win for Allblacks vs Springboks with their full 15 on the field 9 out of 10 times, simply because they cannot handle speed.
realme SA
Guest
forget about the yellow cards on bismark of which only one was justifiable and definitely not a red. what about the professional fouls perpetrated by new zealand at the break downs that wasn't blown up , I wouldn't have complained about that point if the ref was consistent which he wasn't . Or what about the hands in the ruck on 5 occasions by new zealand, again this wouldn't have been a problem had the ref been consistent. consider the refs poor performance then go back to the game where we played a whole half with only 14 men of which new zealand could only score 14 points and could only win by that same 14 points and you people think you have a strong team . we were all over you and it would have been a 1 point ball game had you not cheated yes cheated . The all blacks can not play the springboks 1 on 1 and accept the outcome they have to cheat . the tackle on dan was legal we playing rugby not netball you f....ing prima donas
FuffuZealah
Guest
How does the system of assigning referees to certain games work? Or are they invited by the competitions organizers? If you ask me we should have our young refs take part i.e. from the respective countries involved. This guy needs to learn English better, good communication is essential. We don't like to see muddled up and confusing games in any form of sport posing as professional fixtures.