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Richie Mo’unga To Start From Bench For All Blacks
Richie Mo’unga will start from the bench for the All Blacks’ clash against South Africa on Saturday.
Anton Lienert-Brown, meanwhile, will play for the first time in almost a month when he starts at centre against the Springboks at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast on Saturday night, after recovering from a hamstring strain.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster has made a number of changes to the team that beat the Springboks 19-17 in Townsville last weekend to claim the Rugby Championship title.
Luke Jacobson, who was slated to start that match, but pulled out due to a stomach bug, has again been listed at No 8 to allow captain Ardie Savea to play at openside flanker.
This means Ethan Blackadder, who started at No 7, will be in the reserves.
Brad Weber will start at halfback ahead of TJ Perenara, while the likes of Rieko Ioane and Sevu Reece will also start.
Mo’unga, who was in quarantine until Tuesday after delaying his arrival in Australia after the birth of his second child, has been named as backup to No 10 Beauden Barrett.
Foster explained that the team was keen to finish the championship on a high.
“The energy levels are high in the team, it’s our fifth test in a row, and we’re highly motivated ahead of another big test against South Africa and the last test of the championship,’’ he said.
“We’ve achieved the championship title, which we’re really proud to have achieved. The fact that we now have the chance to achieve a potential grand slam against our southern hemisphere opponents is pretty special. I’m excited by that and it has already given this weekend’s test an edge.”
He continued: “We learnt some lessons last week. We didn’t look after the ball as well as we could have and some of our work at the ruck wasn’t as good as we wanted. We have to lift our performance in that area and the team is keen to get that right this weekend.”
All Blacks: Jordie Barrett, Sevu Reece, Anton Lienert-Brown, David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Brad Weber, Luke Jacobson, Ardie Savea (captain), Akira Ioane, Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, George Bower, Ofa Tuungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ethan Blackadder, TJ Perenara, Richie Mo’unga, Damian McKenzie.
/Stewart Sports news editor
