Rugby: New Zealand Faces South Africa in the Tri-Nations

New Zealand and South Africa renew their rivalry once again on Saturday, with the second instalment of the Tri-Nations taking place in Dunedin.

Graham Henry and Peter de Villiers have been engaging in a so-called war of words, each criticising the other’s team’s interpretation of laws and trying to expose a number of areas of contention.

De Villiers has a point in my view. The recent England series suggested as much in the land of the long white cloud where Richie McCaw is god and can do whatever he likes on the field without penalty!

However, every coach wants his team to play to the limit of the referees' tolerance, and the laws are only relevant if the referee chooses to apply them. Both coaches are meeting with tomorrow’s official to try to agree on what’s allowed and what isn’t.

Both teams have made a couple of changes, and it’s likely to be another close game in the cold and wet House of Pain. I’ve gone for the All Blacks by 9 on SuperBru…

Here are the teams:

New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rodney So’oialo (captain), 6 Adam Tomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Kevin O’Neill, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Leon MacDonald.

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.

Replacements: 16. Schalk Brits, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.