Following the announcement of Scott Robertson’s All Blacks team to face the Springboks at Sky Stadium in Wellington, here are our five takeaways.
The top line
Robertson has made six alterations to his starting XV in response to Rassie Erasmus’ sweeping changes. The Springboks head coach welcomed Jasper Wiese back and made just one more switch in the pack, while Cheslin Kolbe and Canan Moodie are the only backs who retain starting roles.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks boss has also tweaked his backline as Damian McKenzie starts at full-back and Will Jordan shifts to the wing following the injury to Emoni Narawa. Rieko Ioane falls out of the matchday 23 to make room for Leroy Carter, who makes his debut. A bolter selection from Robertson, with the former New Zealand sevens star becoming the ninth Test debutant of 2025 after barely being on the selectors’ radar 12 months ago.
The Jordie Barrett-Billy Proctor centre combination gets another opportunity to impress and has been paired with half-backs Beauden Barrett and Noah Hotham, the latter returning from an injury that saw him miss the Eden Park epic.
In the pack, Wallace Sititi is named at number eight and is partnered by flankers Ardie Savea and Simon Parker, the latter earning just his third Test cap and a hat-trick of starts. Scott Barrett continues to captain the team from the second-row and carries on his impressive partnership with Tupou Vaa’i. The final two shake-ups come in the front-row as Tyrel Lomax switches roles with Fletcher Newell, while Samisoni Taukei’aho replaces the injured Codie Taylor at hooker as Ethan de Groot completes the run-on team.
Finally, Brodie McAlister is added to the bench, as too is Ruben Love, who will be tasked with covering full-back and fly-half off the bench.
Rieko Ioane’s place in the squad?
Robertson is clearly building depth in 2025, but one has to wonder what Ioane’s standing in the squad is. He has been shifted out of the midfield after a dip in form in the position last year, with Proctor moving up the pecking order to become J. Barrett’s regular centre partner.
However, the move hasn’t resulted in an improvement in performance with the Blues man hardly setting the world alight on his return to the role that he broke onto the international scene in. Ioane has been more miss than hit in 2025, and frankly, his stint with Leinster cannot come sooner. A change in scenery and coaching structures could do him a world of good.
The All Blacks coaches will insist that his dropping this week is simply rotation and providing Carter with an opportunity, but Ioane was rather anonymous at Eden Park, with one of his very few notable moments being his try-saving intervention, which was more down to a poor decision by Ox Nche than brilliance from the All Black.
It is a real concern for the All Blacks that after 86 Tests, Ioane isn’t influencing matches or commanding the starting position in the manner that he should be. New Zealand’s breakdown brilliance limited the impact of the Springboks’ aerial game brilliance, but with a week to alter the plans, Erasmus is bound to have found solutions, and Carter’s inclusion suggests that Robertson believes that to be the case, too.
“He’s fast and he’s got some great hops, he competes well and we just think it’s a great opportunity for him this weekend,” Robertson said, explaining Carter’s selection.
“He’s been superb for us at training and had a great year, and now it’s his time.”
With Proctor now the first choice 13 and Leicester Faingaʻanuku returning from France to add even more competition to the role, while Anton Lienert-Brown brings experience and versatility, Ioane looks to be slipping even further down the midfield pecking order. And now his standing among the wingers looks even more uncertain.
The abolishment of the escorts has put a bigger emphasis on a winger’s ability under the high ball, and that is hardly one of Ioane’s strengths, which opens the door for more starts in the wider role for Jordan, particularly with Ruben Love emerging as a real option at full-back, McKenzie shining at the back at Eden Park and the return of Richie Mo’unga next year which may result in B. Barrett moving back again.
Back-row balance
Robertson has stuck with the same back-row that did the job against the Boks in Auckland last week, and rightly so, despite Murray Mexted’s puzzling criticism of Wallace Sititi.
The 2024 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year was superb against the Boks as he managed to disrupt the South Africans in just about every facet of the game. He may not be the tallest number eight on the international scene, but his explosiveness and speed at lineout time means he is a safe pair of hands at the set-piece and a brilliant competitor on the opposition’s ball.
But he is being aided by the superb Parker, who earns his third straight start for New Zealand after impressing on debut against Argentina in Round Two. The Chiefs loose forward was a shock selection in the squad for the tournament, but he has certainly risen to the occasion and has made a real splash in the Test arena. His relentless work-rate on both sides of the ball and his imposing frame is incredibly useful in the lineouts.
The real conundrum that Robertson has had with his loose trio since last year has been getting the best out of Ardie Savea, arguably the All Blacks’ best player, and on the evidence of the past fortnight, he has struck the right balance. It really doesn’t matter whether Savea is wearing the seven or the eight jersey; he is box-office, but with Parker and Sititi, he doesn’t have to concern himself too much with the hard graft and can instead produce his match-defining moments, like the turnover to seal the Boks’ defeat.
With the Vaa’i-blindside flanker experiment bearing fruit in July by providing Savea with the same kind of freedom, Robertson certainly has options and can switch up his set-up to combat the threats of the opposition, but in general, this weekend’s combination looks to be the most balanced and can be deployed against most international teams.
That said, one cannot dismiss the energy and aggression that Du’Plessis Kirifi is bringing from the bench, while Peter Lakai continues to be rather unfortunate when it comes to selection. Ethan Blackadder was in the same boat before injury struck, while Luke Jacobson is back in the mix and adds even further depth across the back-row. All in all, New Zealand’s loose forward stocks are in rude health.
Can Tyrel Lomax turn the tide in the scrums?
While the loose trio continues to fire, there is certainly some concern up front for the All Blacks, particularly after the Springboks demolished New Zealand’s scrum in Auckland.
It wasn’t just the mind-blowing tighthead that will have left forwards coach Jason Ryan fuming, though one would imagine that was replayed quite a few times for his pack this week, but also the manner in which the Boks got the upper hand in the set-piece. De Groot repeatedly flopped under pressure in the scrum, and when New Zealand had arguably their strongest scrummagers on the park, that was when South Africa really flexed their prowess.
Lomax is widely regarded as one of the best tighthead props in the game right now, a reputation that is richly deserved, but he was emphatically shunted backwards in that scrum by Nche, who has the same stature as a loosehead. It was a rare sight to see the All Black number three backtrack in such a fashion, and he will be well aware that there could be a repeat if he isn’t on top of his game after being elevated to the starting XV. More often than not, Nche got the better of Newell with little reward, and the All Blacks are less likely to get away with indiscretions as the set-piece this week, with Georgian Nika Amashukeli officiating the match.
One thing that does play into New Zealand’s favour is the fact that the Springboks aren’t fielding an out-and-out tighthead lock with Lood de Jager replacing Eben Etzebeth in the second-row – a selection that even Duane Vermeulen admits is ‘weird’. While De Jager is in a bigger mould than a usual number five lock, there is surely a bit of drop off with Etzebeth absent. The question is, will it be enough to turn the tide when paired with Lomax’s inclusion in the run-on team?
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Robertson’s contrasting approach to building depth
It’s plainly obvious that both Erasmus and Robertson are building depth in their squads with an eye not only on the World Cup but perhaps even beyond.
However, the All Blacks head coach has certainly gone about the task in a contrasting manner to his counterpart. Last year, he picked largely the same team that Ian Foster did, with a handful of alternatives as he bedded in his plans into the squad, but he has seemingly ramped up the inclusions of new faces in 2025, with Carter being the ninth new cap.
But where the real difference lies is how Robertson has filtered in the new faces, rarely making wholesale changes when doing so, with the third Test against France the only real exception.
The head coach has often thrown the newbies into the mix and surrounded them with a largely experienced squad, while Erasmus has been willing to field inexperienced teams, like this weekend, with a backline boasting just 173 Test caps. A tally that the Barretts in the backs comfortably better.