{"id":89699,"date":"2025-09-12T15:53:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T15:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense"},"modified":"2025-09-12T16:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T16:19:56","slug":"all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks Aim to Defeat Springboks’ Title Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The All Blacks will look to end the Springboks’ Rugby Championship title defence on Saturday in a crunch match in Wellington where both sides have put their faith in raw talent to thrive under pressure.<\/p>\n

After seeing off the South Africa 24-17 at Eden Park on Saturday, Scott Robertson’s New Zealand lead the table on 10 points and can put the third-placed visitors out of contention with two rounds to spare.<\/p>\n

Robertson’s tactics and selections have not always won acclaim but few could fault the performance in Auckland where the hosts got the jump on the Boks with a fast start and then beat them at their own kicking game in rainy conditions.<\/p>\n

With clearer weather forecast for Saturday night (kickoff 7.05pm in New Zealand, 9.05am SA time), Robertson has added a touch of flair, starting 22-year-old Noah Hotham at scrumhalf and picking uncapped Leroy Carter on the wing in place of the dumped Rieko Ioane.<\/p>\n

Carter, who represented New Zealand in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics, earns his Test debut having come a long way in a short time.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old made his Super Rugby debut for the Waikato Chiefs in February and finished his first season in the professional ranks with nine tries.<\/p>\n

Branded \u201cthe fastest in New Zealand\u201d by Robertson, Carter’s promotion makes him the ninth All Blacks debutant of the season.<\/p>\n

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus is also looking to spark his team with youthful energy, giving 22-year-old fullback Ethan Hooker a first start and axing Willie le Roux after the 36-year-old’s muddled game at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

Mercurial 23-year-old Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been rewarded with the number 10 jersey, edging out veteran playmaker Handre\u0301 Pollard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know a lot of players didn\u2019t perform well, and plenty of coaches, myself included, didn\u2019t coach well last week,\u201d Erasmus said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne positive was how the game ended. The guys who came on brought energy and fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another defeat to arch-rivals New Zealand would go down like a lead balloon on the home front and raise questions about whether the ageing Springboks’ golden era is over after back-to-back World Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2023.<\/p>\n

But Erasmus is confident his team can bounce back at Wellington Regional Stadium where they have a solid record in recent outings.<\/p>\n

South Africa held the All Blacks 16-16 in their last visit during the 2019 Rugby Championship, a year after upsetting them in a 36-34 classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a top-class performance to ensure that we are in contention to win the [title],\u201d Erasmus said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know where we went wrong last week and what we must fix.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The All Blacks will look to end the Springboks’ Rugby Championship title defence on Saturday in a crunch match in Wellington where both sides have put their faith in raw talent to thrive under pressure. After seeing off the South Africa 24-17 at Eden Park on Saturday, Scott Robertson’s New Zealand lead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-89699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nAll Blacks Aim to Defeat Springboks' Title Defense - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The All Blacks will look to end the Springboks' Rugby Championship title defence on Saturday in a crunch match in Wellin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All Blacks Aim to Defeat Springboks' Title Defense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The All Blacks will look to end the Springboks' Rugby Championship title defence on Saturday in a crunch match in Wellin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-12T15:53:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-12T16:19:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757681336.43482.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"945\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"583\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"All Blacks Aim to Defeat Springboks’ Title Defense\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-12T15:53:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-12T16:19:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense\"},\"wordCount\":456,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757681336.43482.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/all-blacks-aim-to-defeat-springboks-title-defense\",\"name\":\"All Blacks Aim to Defeat Springboks' Title Defense - 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