{"id":18356,"date":"2026-08-28T05:09:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18356"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:09:48","slug":"bower-parker-and-carter-into-all-blacks-starting-xv-for-second-test-against-springboks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18356","title":{"rendered":"Bower, Parker and Carter into All Blacks starting XV for second test against Springboks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has made several changes from the team that beat the Springboks at Ellis Park for Sunday morning’s second test in Cape Town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Prop George Bower, who helped steady the All Blacks scrum\u00a0after coming off the bench in last weekend’s 33-16 win in Johannesburg<\/a>, replaces Ethan de Groot, who is out with concussion, in the starting front row.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax are retained at hooker and prop respectively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tupou Vaa’i moves from blindside to lock, replacing Josh Lord, who was also ruled out of the second test following a head clash with de Groot last week at Ellis Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vaa’i will partner with Fabian Holland in the second row.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Tupou<\/div>
Tupou Vaa’i switches from the loose forwards to lock.<\/p>\n

Samuel Shivambu\/BackpagePix<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Chiefs loose forward Simon Parker gets the nod at blindside flanker, filling the spot left vacant by Vaa’i’s move to lock. Parker beats out the likes of Wallace Sititi and Ethan Blackadder, who was man of the match in\u00a0Wednesday’s win over the Lions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ardie Savea captains the side from No.8 with Luke Jacobson at openside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hurricanes front rower Xavier Numia comes onto the bench to provide prop cover, while veteran Patrick Tuipulotu has been named in the reserves to cover lock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the backs, there is one change from last week’s team, with Leroy Carter taking over on the left wing from Josh Moorby, who drops to the bench.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The backline remains the same bar the change on the wing, with Cam Roigard at halfback, Ruben Love at first-five, Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea in the midfield.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Damian McKenzie, who will be playing his 34th consecutive test, is at fullback with Will Jordan, the All Blacks all-time leading try scorer, on the right wing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Leroy<\/div>
Leroy Carter has replaced Josh Moorby on the left wing for the second test.<\/p>\n

Andrew Cornaga\/www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jordan extended his record to 53 tries last weekend, joining English winger Rory Underwood in sixth place on the men’s international test try-scoring list.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Japanese winger Daisuke Ohata holds the record with 69 tries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rennie said there’s fierce competition for spots in the matchday 23 and he expects both teams to improve on their performances last weekend in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“While we were happy with the win last week, I think both teams will be better this weekend,” Rennie said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We’ve played four tests this year and are still growing as a group. I’m really excited about the competition for places and the performances of the squad across the matches here in South Africa, and we’re really looking forward to this weekend.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Asafo Aumua is the reserve hooker, Fletcher Newell and Numia the back up props, with Peter Lakai the one loose forward on the bench, which also includes midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown and halfback Kyle Preston, who has played all five of the All Blacks games in South Africa so far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Asafo<\/div>
Asafo Aumua will again provide impact from the bench.<\/p>\n

Ron Gaunt\/www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The All Blacks lead the four test series 1-0 and know a win in Cape Town this weekend would heap even more pressure on the hosts and go a long way to securing a series victory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The All Blacks have played South Africa 111 times, for 64 wins, 43 losses and four draws.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The All Blacks will be playing only their second ever test match at DHL Stadium, with all ten previous Cape Town tests played at the old Newlands Stadium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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New Zealand won seven of those 11 previous tests against the the Springboks in Cape Town, with the last win nine years ago in 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Springboks won the most recent test, beating the All Blacks 31-27 in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This weekend’s second test kicks off at 5:10am Sunday (NZT).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps in brackets)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. George Bower (27)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Codie Taylor (110)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Tyrel Lomax (52)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. Fabian Holland (13)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Tupou Vaa’i (48)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6. Simon Parker (9)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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7. Luke Jacobson (28)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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8. Ardie Savea (110) – Captain<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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9. Cam Roigard (21)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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10.\u202fRuben Love (9)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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11.\u202fLeroy Carter (8)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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12. Jordie Barrett (82)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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13. Quinn Tupaea (27)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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14.\u202fWill Jordan (58)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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15.\u202fDamian McKenzie (78)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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16. Asafo Aumua (23)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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17. Xavier Numia (2)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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18. Fletcher Newell (38)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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19. Patrick Tuipulotu (57)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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20. Peter Lakai (11)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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21.\u202fKyle Preston (2)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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22.\u202fAnton Lienert-Brown (91)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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23.\u202fJosh Moorby (3)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

rnz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has made several changes from the team that beat the Springboks at Ellis Park for Sunday morning’s second test in Cape Town. Prop George Bower, who helped steady the All Blacks scrum\u00a0after coming off the bench in last weekend’s 33-16 win in Johannesburg, replaces Ethan de Groot, who is out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18358,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18356\/revisions\/18358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}