The All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies have named their teams for their Second Test matches against England, Ireland and Wales respectively.
All Blacks Head Coach Scott Robertson and his co-selectors, Assistant Coaches Scott Hansen, Jason Holland, Leon MacDonald and Jason Ryan have named their All Blacks team to play England in the second match of the 2024 Steinlager Ultra Low Carb Series at Eden Park in Auckland.
Halfback Finlay Christie is the only change to the All Blacks starting fifteen, while Cortez Ratima is set for his Test debut after being named in the match-day 23.
Christie earns the No.9 jersey after coming on as a substitute during the first Test win in Dunedin in place of TJ Perenara, who has been ruled out of the second Test with a leg injury. It will be Christie’s first Test start since the All Blacks 23-20 win over Australia in Dunedin in August 2023. He will feed an otherwise unchanged backline led by first five eighth Damian McKenzie and bookended by fullback Stephen Perofeta.
King Country-born Ratima, 23, who was one of five new caps in the All Blacks squad for the 2024 Steinlager Ultra Low Carb Series, is set to become the first of those players to be capped.
In the forwards, Samipeni Finau has been cleared to play and will start at blindside flanker with openside Dalton Papali’i and No.8 Ardie Savea once again completing the loose trio, in an otherwise unchanged pack.
All Blacks Head Coach Scott Robertson said the squad was prepared and ready to win the series at Eden Park.
“Finlay has worked hard and earned his place in the starting side and it will be a proud day for Cortez and his whānau. He’s a talented young man who is ready for Test footy,” Robertson said. “We can feel New Zealand’s support here in Auckland and we will hear it at a sold-out Eden Park. It’s a very special venue to the All Blacks, and we’re going there on Saturday to win the series against England.”
The All Blacks winning record at Eden Park stretches back to 1994 and has included 48 wins and two draws since. The All Blacks secured the Hillary Shield in Dunedin with a 16-15 first Test win and can secure the Steinlager Ultra Low Carb Series Trophy with a win at Eden Park.
All Blacks team to play England in Auckland:
1. Ethan De Groot (23), 2. Codie Taylor (86), 3. Tyrel Lomax (33), 4. Scott Barrett (70) (Captain), 5. Patrick Tuipulotu (44), 6. Samipeni Finau (2), 7. Dalton Papali’i (33), 8. Ardie Savea (82) (Vice Captain), 9. Finlay Christie (22), 10. Damian McKenzie (48), 11. Mark Tele’a (10), 12. Jordie Barrett, (58) (Vice Captain), 13. Rieko Ioane (70), 14. Sevu Reece (24), 15. Stephen Perofeta (4)
Replacements: 16. Asafo Aumua (7), 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (58), 18. Fletcher Newell (14),19. Tupou Vaa’i (26), 20. Luke Jacobson (19), 21. Cortez Ratima (0)*, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (71), 23. Beauden Barrett (124)
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named the most experienced team in Springbok history when he retained the same 23-man matchday squad to the one which defeated Ireland 27-20 in their opening match in Pretoria last week for the second Test at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
Erasmus named an unchanged starting XV with a total of 990 combined Test caps among them. The total surpasses the 987 caps amassed by the run-on team in the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand in France last year.
Furthermore, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel will become the most-capped centre pairing in South African history on Saturday when they combine in the midfield for the 30th time in Tests.
With 20 players in the matchday squad having RWC experience and eight players having made their Test season ‘debut’ last weekend – including captain Siya Kolisi (flanker), Handre Pollard (flyhalf) and Cheslin Kolbe (wing), among others – Erasmus hoped for a more clinical performance from his charges this week.
“It’s always tough facing Ireland,” said Erasmus. “They are a quality team, they are ranked second in the world, and as we saw last week, they never stop fighting, so we know the magnitude of the challenge that awaits us this weekend.
“We have no doubt they’ll come out even stronger this week, but we also identified the areas of the game that we need to improve on, and it’s vital for us to build on our performance in our quest to win both matches.”
Erasmus expected Ireland to come out all guns blazing and said: “We’ve been on the wrong side of the scoreboard on a few occasions too and we remember how it felt to suffer a defeat against them in the World Cup pool stages, and we have no doubt they are feeling the same this week.
“They are a proud team and nation and they’ll be disappointed that they were unable to capitalise on a few opportunities last week close to our tryline, so they will work hard this week to fix their mistakes and ensure that they convert their chances into points.
“This is going to be another physically gruelling match, and just like us, they will be determined to correct the wrongs of last week.”
Springbok team to play Ireland in Durban:
15 – Willie le Roux (94), 14. Cheslin Kolbe (32), 13. Jesse Kriel (70), 12. Damian de Allende (80), 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse (16), 10. Handré Pollard (70), 9. Faf de Klerk (57), 8. Kwagga Smith (42), 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (79), 6. Siya Kolisi (captain, 92), 5. Franco Mostert (75), 4. Eben Etzebeth (121), 3. Frans Malherbe (71), 2. Bongi Mbonambi (70), 1. Ox Nche (29)
Replacements: 16. Malcolm Marx (66), 17. Gerhard Steenekamp (2), 18. Vincent Koch (51), 19. Salmaan Moerat (5) , 20. RG Snyman (35), 21. Marco van Staden (19), 22. Grant Williams (10), 23. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2)
Wallabies prop James Slipper will take over the captaincy as Joe Schmidt confirms his side for Saturday's second Test against Wales in Melbourne.
Slipper captains the side as a result of an injury to backrower Liam Wright ruled him out.
It's the 15th time the 35-year-old has captained Australia, recently breaking the record for most caps for a front-rower.
Wright's absence sees Slipper's Brumbies team-mate Charlie Cale make his debut start at number eight.
Cale was one of seven debutants during last week's victory and his inclusion pushes Rob Valetini to blindside flanker, the same set-up as at the Brumbies.
It's the lone change to the starting side, with Schmidt making several changes to the bench, headlined by potential debutant Josh Nasser.
Nasser, the son of former Wallaby Brendan, joins Isaac Kailea and Allan Alaalatoa as the front-row replacements.
NSW Waratah Langi Gleeson has also been added to the bench, named for his first appearance for the Wallabies in 2024 alongside Angus Blyth.
Western Force duo Nic White and Ben Donaldson round out the changes, providing an experienced combo off the bench with Dylan Pietsch.
“We found out a bit about ourselves last week and are looking forward to learning a bit more on Saturday night," Schmidt said.
“We’ve worked hard again this week in Melbourne and will be going out to earn the support of those in the stands and those at home on Saturday night.”
Wallabies team to play Wales in Melbourne:
1. James Slipper (c) (135), 2. Matt Faessler (6 ), 3. Taniela Tupou (51), 4. Jeremy Williams (1), 5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (31), 6. Rob Valetini (40), 7. Fraser McReight (18) , 8. Charlie Cale (1), 9. Jake Gordon (21), 10. Noah Lolesio (18), 11. Filipo Daugunu (8), 12. Hunter Paisami (25), 13. Josh Flook (1), 14. Andrew Kellaway (27), 15. Tom Wright (26)
Replacements: 16. Josh Nasser (*) , 17. Isaac Kailea (1) , 18. Allan Alaalatoa (68) , 19. Angus Blyth (1) , 20. Langi Gleeson (5) , 21. Nic White (66) , 22. Ben Donaldson (7) , 23. Dylan Pietsch (1)
*denotes potential debut
