All Blacks Make 3 Changes for Springboks Test 2 at DHL Stadium Cape Town

All Blacks Make 3 Changes for Springboks Test 2 at DHL Stadium Cape Town

  • Dave Rennie named his revised starting XV for Saturday's Test against the Springboks, with injuries forcing changes in the front five
  • Leroy Carter earns a place in the run-on team while two new faces join the replacements bench after impressing against the Lions midweek
  • The All Blacks head into Test Two unbeaten on South African soil, having won the series opener 33-16 last weekend

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has revealed a reshuffled starting lineup for Saturday's second Test against the Springboks at DHL Stadium in Cape Town, with injury forcing his hand in the front five.

All Blacks, New Zealand, Dave Rennie, South Africa, Springboks
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has revealed a reshuffled starting lineup for Saturday's second Test. Image: PHILL MAGAKOE
Source: Getty Images

New Zealand travel into the fixture on the back of a 33-16 victory over South Africa in the opening Test and remain undefeated across their entire South African tour, including a 41-35 win over the Lions on Tuesday.

3 changes to the All Blacks starting XV

Rennie has made three alterations to the side that triumphed last weekend. In the backline, Leroy Carter comes in on the wing, pushing Josh Moorby onto the replacements bench, while Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Ruben Love and Cam Roigard all keep their places.

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The forward pack sees two enforced changes in the front five. George Bower replaces Ethan de Groot at loosehead prop, and Tupou Vaa'i shifts to lock to cover for Josh Lord, with Fabian Holland remaining as his second-row partner. Ardie Savea captains the side again at number eight, flanked by Luke Jacobson and Simon Parker. Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax retain their front-row berths.

Bench sees fresh faces after Lions win

Rennie has maintained a 5:3 forward-to-back split on his bench. Xavier Numia and Patrick Tuipulotu are the two new additions to the replacements, both having featured in Tuesday's win over the Lions. Asafo Aumua, Fletcher Newell, Peter Lakai, Kyle Preston and Anton Lienert-Brown all retain their spots among the replacements.

See the full squad in the post below on X.

Speaking about the squad's development ahead of the match, Rennie said:

"While we were happy with the win last week, I think both teams will be better this weekend. 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."

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Source: Briefly News

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Ncube Harrison (Sports Editor) Harrison Ncube is a sports journalist with years of experience covering African and global sports. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies from the Zimbabwe Open University and previously worked at Sports Buzz (2018–2022), freelanced for Sports Journal (2023–2024), and contributed to Radio 54 African Panorama Live (2021–2023). He joined Briefly News in February 2025. For inquiries, reach him at ncube.harrison@briefly.co.za.