Head coach Dave Rennie has turned to a familiar face to lead the All Blacks against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Veteran hooker Codie Taylor returns from a calf injury to captain the side. The tour captain had missed Tuesday’s 54-0 demolition of the Sharks in Durban, as well as New Zealand’s opening win of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series over the Stormers.
Rennie has made wholesale changes to his starting XV, with only Wallace Sititi, Josh Lord, Kyle Preston, Timoci Tavatavanawai and Emoni Narawa retained from the Durban run-on side, now shifted to the bench.
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Beauden Barrett starts at fullback, with Rieko Ioane and Anton Lienert-Brown forming the midfield, while Peter Lakai and Simon Parker join Anton Segner in a new-look loose trio.
Tyrel Lomax, Patrick Tuipulotu and Fabian Holland anchor the tight five alongside Taylor and prop Xavier Numia.
The All Blacks will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start before facing the Springboks at Ellis Park next Saturday.
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ALL BLACKS – 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Josh Jacomb, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Anton Segner, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Xavier Numia.
Bench: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Siale Lauaki, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Emoni Narawa.
Photo: Joe Allison/Getty Images
The post All Blacks skipper returns for Bulls battle appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Head coach Dave Rennie has turned to a familiar face to lead the All Blacks against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The post All Blacks skipper returns for Bulls battle appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
