All Blacks Line-up Set for Saturday
New Zealand All Blacks coach Graham Henry has set his line-up for this week’s Tri-Nations Cup match up against the South Africa Springboks in Wellington. The All Blacks are coming off of a victory in the opening match of the tournament in Auckland over the Boks.
New Zealand Changes
Henry waited as long as he could to see if injured All Blacks Joe Rokocoko and Jimmy Cowan would be fit to play for the weekend, but unfortunately for Henry they will not be. Winger Rokocoko has been forced out of the match completely, suffering from a strained hamstring. Rokocoko will be replaced by Rene Ranger who is winning his first cap. Cowan has been ruled out of starting the match with an abdominal strain, but will be placed in reserves. The big scrum-half is going to be switched out with Piri Weepu. These two changes are the only ones to the line-up that defeated South Africa in the opener.
The changes came in the wake of the South African announcement that Jannie du Plessis will be out of the next game and is to be replaced by CJ Van der Linde, while Adries Bekker will be called upon to fill the void left by Danie Rossouw, who is taking the spot of the suspended Bakkies Botha.
What the Changes Mean
For New Zealand these changes do not come as a surprise. It did not look as though Rokocoko or Cowan would be good to go for the second match. Henry mentioned before the tournament began that he was going with experience, something Rokocoko and Cowan both brought. Rokocoko was attempting to earn his 50th cap while Cowan has appeared 37 times for the All Blacks. Henry loses some of this experience with the promotion of Ranger and Weepu. Weepu is the more experienced of the two, having won his 40th cap, while Ranger is looking to collect his first cap this weekend.
The loss of some great experience is not going to help New Zealand going into Wellington. Rokocoko has a great deal of experience on the wing, and was very successful in the first game against the Boks. Ranger is going to have to prove he belongs on the squad, and really use his speed on the slower South African side. The loss of Cowan’s caps is quelled by the fact that Weepu actually has more than him. Nevertheless, the importance of the scrum-half cannot be understated and the All blacks will have to work hard to ensure he feels comfortable come Saturday.
The good news for the All Blacks is that their try scorers Ma’a Nonu, Kieran Read, Tony Woodcock, and Conrad Smith will all be in the line-up on the weekend.
Both Teams Lack of Changes
Both Henry and South African coach Peter de Villiers have shown a great deal of trust in their sides. Both coaches only made the changes that were absolutely necessary. For the All Blacks this is more understandable, as they won the first encounter. For South Africa it asserts that de Villiers believes, as many experts do, that he has the best squad in the world.
With a similar line-up to the first match, and a South African squad that also underwent minimal changes the All Blacks game plan should not change. They will have to use their speed, as well as try and control the line-out situation. Although the South Africans are great deal larger and Victor Matfield is a presence in the set play the All Blacks have proven they have the ability to beat the Boks.
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