Codie leads, Richie at 10 for All Blacks
Hooker Codie Taylor will captain a much-changed New Zealand outfit in the fourth and final Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the Springboks on Saturday.
Taylor takes over the leadership duties from No 8 Ardie Savea, who was injured during last week’s 29-24 defeat to the Boks in Johannesburg, along with flanker Luke Jacobson and outside centre Quinn Tupaea.
The result gave South Africa a 2-1 lead going into this week’s series decider at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
TEAM: Boks back Krappie for Baltimore decider
The starting pack features Taylor, Ethan de Groot and Fletcher Newell in the front row, with Patrick Tuipulotu and Sam Darry in the second row. The loose trio consists of Tupou Vaa’i, Peter Lakai and Ethan Blackadder.
Cam Roigard starts at scrumhalf, while Richie Mo’unga wears the No 10 jersey in place of Ruben Love, who has been dropped. It will be Mo’unga’s first Test appearance since the 2023 World Cup final against the Boks, although he started in the tour win against the Lions two weeks ago.
Jordie Barrett and Anton Lienert-Brown are in midfield, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan on the wings, and the mercurial Damian McKenzie at fullback.
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has opted for a split of five forwards and three backs on the bench, with Rieko Ioane and Beauden Barrett set to make their first Test appearances in 2026.
ALSO: Rassie to bring up Bok century
“We always planned for there to be a number of changes for this match. Every player here has worked incredibly hard over the last seven weeks to prepare the team for the seven games we’ve played so far, and all those selected for this Test fully deserve it,” said Rennie.
“We have everything to play for. It is our chance to draw the series and end the tour with a performance to be proud of.
“We have had incredible support travelling with us throughout the tour and amazing support back at home. We want to put in a performance that shows how much we appreciate that. We also want to honour the players and management who have returned home early but contributed so much.”
ALL BLACKS – 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Ethan de Groot.
Bench: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Beauden Barrett.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Weekend teams
Crédito: Link de origem