At a glance
New Zealand: Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, David Havili, Caleb Clarke, Richie Mo’unga, Aaron Smith; Ardie Savea, Sam Cane (captain), Shannon Frizell, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock,
Tyrel Lomax, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Ethan de Groot. Reserves: Codie Taylor, George Bower, Fletcher Newell, Tupou Vaa’i, Akira Ioane, Finlay Christie, Stephen Perofeta, Quinn Tupaea.
Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia, Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Lucio Cinto, Santiago Carreras, Gonzalo Bertranou; Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Tomas Lavanini, Matias
Alemanno, Joel Sclavi, Julian Montoya (captain), Thomas Gallo. Reserves: Santiago Socino, Mayco Vivas, Eduardo Bello, Guido Petti, Santiago Grondona, Tomas Cubelli, Tomas Albornoz, Santiago Cordero.
While his performance at Ellis Park wasn’t without its blemishes, Mo’unga’s kicking game and decision-making were instrumental in the All Blacks turning around a 26-10 loss to the Springboks in Mbombela to punish the same foe at their fortress of Ellis Park.
After the series of events that unfolded following the victory at Ellis Park, which eventually led to NZ Rugby endorsing him through to the World Cup, Foster must have been relieved to finally get on the training pitch and focus on the remainder of the Rugby Championship.
As well as now having exIreland coach Joe Schmidt guiding the team’s attack, forwards coach Jason Ryan has also joined
Schmidt and Foster as a selector.
The players’ response to Schmidt joining the staff after Brad Mooar was ditched following the 2-1 series loss to Ireland last month has been positive.
The best way to hose down speculation about Foster’s suit
ability for the job, now, is for his players – who came out in support of their coach after the win in Johannesburg – to snare another win.
There could be few complaints about the selections for this test, not after the way the All Blacks
produced a dynamite performance to break a sickly three-game losing streak.
With ex-wallabies coach Michael Cheika now in charge, and ex-kiwis coach and player David Kidwell running the defence, Argentina have been
determined to play an up-tempo game laced with typical aggression at the breakdown.
Argentina’s recent 48-17 win over the Wallabies in San Juan ensures their confidence levels should have been topped up.