All Blacks Make Two Changes For The Weekend
The All Black selectors have made two changes to their side for this Saturdays second Test against the Springboks, in Dunedin.
The most obvious change sees Anthony Boric get his first run-on start, due to the one week suspension of Brad Thorn for slamming John Smit on his back.
Boric has had very little game time so far - the only decent time he's had was fifty or so minutes against England when Ali Williams went off injured, but he will definitely be a valuable asset in the lineouts.
The All Blacks will miss Thorn's presence around the field and at scrum time, but Boric is no slouch, and will add mobility around the field - not to mention the usefulness of his height of 2m in the lineout. With Thorn unavailable, Waikato Chiefs lock Kevin O'Neill gets his chance on the bench.
The other change sees John Afoa replace Greg Sommerville in the front row. Afoa sustained a knee injury against the Irish, and has been unavailable for the last three Tests, and so now gets his chance to impress the coaches against the Boks.
Afoa is a very strong scrummager, and has an excellent work rate around the field. While he is relatively new at Test level, his Super 14 experience will stand him in good stead against the Bok's scrum.
And, while we're talking about the scrum - how pathetic are Peter de Villiers' claims that the All Blacks are cheating at the scrum?! The All Blacks have long been the benchmark of scrummaging, and so it was no surprise that we dominated their pack on Saturday.
Face it Pete - your boys got a lesson from the best in the business.
The Springbok pack is bigger than the All Blacks, and yet we still push theirs backwards. Maybe if they focused on developing their own scrum, rather than complaining about ours, they could make the scrums a real contest...
If the second Test is anything like the first, then we expect plenty of fireworks from both sides - which may just heat things up a bit, as Dunedin is sure to provide some chilly temperatures.
It should be another fantastic Test between these two great rivals - Go the All Blacks!
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