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All Blacks rookies promoted, Barrett benched for Springboks rematch
By Ned Lester
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has made a handful of significant changes in his team to face the Springboks in round four of The Rugby Championship in Cape Town.
Rookies Wallace Sititi and Cortez Ratima have been promoted to the starting XV, while the back three has been reworked with Mark Tele'a and Sevu Reece named on the wings and Will Jordan moved to fullback.
The changes come at the expense of Beauden Barrett, who will look to provide impact off the bench, having had success off the pine against England earlier in the international season.
Caleb Clarke is listed as injured, with Ethan Blackadder the only other injury consideration for this week's selections. RugbyPass understands both injuries are short-term and not expected to play a factor moving forward.
The midfield duo of Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane have retained their places in the starting unit, along with No. 10 Damian McKenzie.
Ratima's promotion places veteran TJ Perenara on the bench, creating a far more experienced impact unit to finish the contest after last weekend's disappointing final quarter for the team.
Ardie Savea and Sam Cane retain their starting roles, with young gun Sititi coming in on the blindside flank. The starting tight five remains the same, while Luke Jacobson replaces Saimpeni Finau as the loose forward replacement.
All Blacks team to face the Springboks
- Tamaiti Williams
- Codie Taylor
- Tyrel Lomax
- Scott Barrett
- Tupou Vaa'i
- Wallace Sititi
- Sam Cane
- Ardie Savea
- Cortez Ratima
- Damian McKenzie
- Mark Tele'a
- Jordie Barrett
- Rieko Ioane
- Sevu Reece
- Will Jordan
Reserves
16. Asafo Aumua
17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi
18. Fletcher Newell
19. Sam Darry
20. Luke Jacobson
21. TJ Perenara
22. Anton Lienert-Brown
23. Beauden Barrett
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Latest Comments
I dont believe Skelton has ever proven himself at test level tho Nick. Yep he played well against a side they scored plenty against but his record v the top sides isnt special. Good quality player but Im not as convinced about him as you seem to be, as you base most of your opinion on his local club stuff not really his test performances. His test record of 30 tests in 10 years explains itself very well. I think he is an honest performer but certainly not a top notch International player.
Go to commentsI wonder Jake, who do you think is the best fit for Australia as a coach? Not since Joe Schmidt took over as coach did Australia look any good, however, there is always this debate around not having an Aussie coach by the fans and so called pundits and old players.
Some of them are changing their minds now however, but I would love to see who you would choose. I think Joe Schmidt is an excellent coach, who puts in everything for the team he is coaching. To him, there is no such thing as being biased.
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