Boks ready togo the full distance

Springboks head coach Allister Coetzee is preparing his side to go ‘‘80-plus minutes’’ in a bid to beat the notoriously fast-finishing All Blacks at Albany tomorrow.

Announcing his 23 for the Rugby Championship clash yesterday, Coetzee confirmed three changes to the side which battled to a 23-23 draw with Australia in Perth last weekend.

Sharks flanker Jean-Luc du Preez will take the No 7 jersey vacated after Jaco Kriel’s injury, while at tighthead prop Ruan Dreyer got the nod to replace the injured Coenie Oosthuizen to allow Trevor Nyakane to retain his impact player role off the bench.

The other change to the starting side was the return of first-choice lock Franco Mostert after PieterSteph du Toit was rotated in alongside captain Eben Etzebeth to face the Wallabies.

A young and rejuvenated South African side scored 13 unanswered points to start the second half in Perth and edge ahead by three, only to be denied victory by a 71stminute penalty from Australian No 10 Bernard Foley.

Coetzee felt it was vital his team were able to go as deep as was necessary tomorrow night if they were to defeat a New Zealand side who have developed a knack of coming over their rivals in the final quarter, as proven by last weekend’s 39-22 win against Argentina.

‘‘Not 80, [we must go] 80-plus. ‘‘You can never allow lapses in concentration, especially five minutes before halftime and five minutes after.

‘‘The boys are fit enough to go for 80. The game has completely changed ... we’re looking for a 23-man effort, it’s never a 15-man game anymore. Those guys off the bench, 16 to 23, must be equally as organised and prepared.

‘‘But I must say we’ve had a fantastic week of preparation.’’

Specifically, Coetzee said, that preparation has involved their anticipation of a typically physical All Blacks-Springboks clash.

What that preparation didn’t involve, though, was too much of a reflection on the past. Especially last year.

New Zealand cantered to a 41-13 triumph in Christchurch in the first Rugby Championship game between the two sides last year, before hammering the Springboks 57-15 on their home turf in Durban a couple of weeks later.

The results came during a forgettable year for the proud rugby nation, something they have already gone some way to changing this year with three straight wins against France and two on the bounce over Argentina.

‘‘What we’ve done, we’ve actually 2016 as deep as possible and moved on,’’ Coetzee said.