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VSbetween Anton Lienert-Brown returned from a hamstring injury and opening half Richie Mo’unga is back from quarantine at the hotel for the final match of the All Blacks rugby championship against Africa of the South today.
Lienert-Brown integrated into the away center, pushing Rieko Ioane on the wing and George Bridge off on Matchday 23 for the clash on the Gold Coast.
Mo’unga, who had to self-isolate for two weeks under Covid-19 protocols after arriving late in Australia, is brought back via the bench, leaving Beauden Barrett in jersey number 10.
Coach Ian Foster made no changes to the field nominated last week for New Zealand’s 19-17 victory over South Africa at Townsville, which closed the title with one game to go.
Foster was unhappy with his three full-backs’ performance against the Springboks, however, and cut winger Will Jordan with Bridge on Matchday 23.
Sevu Reece takes Jordan’s place on the wing.
“I think our three full-backs maybe weren’t at the level we needed last week. So that’s clearly a message that has been sent,” he said.
Brad Weber has been promoted to starting scrum-half with TJ Perenara falling to the bench as the All Blacks look to finish the competition undefeated.
Asafo Aumua arrives at reserve hooker and George Bower replaces pillar Karl Tu’inukuafe on the bench.
“We learned a few lessons last week,” Foster said.
“We didn’t take care of the ball as well as we could and some of our ruck work wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be.
“We need to improve our performance in this area and the team is looking forward to doing that this weekend.”
Despite his loss last week, the Springboks assistant coach said de Bruin wasn’t too down on their third straight loss and believes the world champions can punish the All Blacks by making a few tactical changes. “We’ve got guys to really hit them,” de Bruin said.
“I don’t think it’s the strongest All Blacks team anymore. They had disruptions, Aaron Smith isn’t playing, they’re not very good in scrum, we often pumped them into the scrum. So for me, it’s a team that we can take apart, just by adding this component when it’s on, it’s on.
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