All Blacks turn to a Scot for Springboks test after ‘simply unforgivable’ result

The four teams have one win apiece going into the third round as the action relocates Down Under.

Australia host Argentina at the North Queensland Stadium in Townsville while New Zealand welcome world champions South Africa to Eden Park in the game of the weekend.

The All Blacks are smarting from their shock 29-23 loss to Argentina in the second Test in Buenos Aires, a result that sent some Kiwi commentators into meltdown. One pundit, Mark Watson of Sport Nation, called it “simply unforgivable” and suggested New Zealand start playing the Welsh national anthem rather than their own because they were “heading down the same path as Wales” who lost a record 18 matches in a row.

Scrum-half from Peebles

New Zealand have turned to a Scot to help them turn things around. Finlay Christie, a scrum-half from Peebles whose family emigrated to the Auckland region when he was seven, will start against the Springboks in place of Cortez Ratima who has been ruled out with a rib fracture. Kyle Preston, the uncapped Crusaders No 9, is poised for debut off the bench.

Despite the result against Argentina, the All Blacks are top of the Rugby Championship table, two points ahead of South Africa who have brought back their big guns.

Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth will all start at Eden Park and Edinburgh’s loosehead prop Boan Venter is once again named on the bench.

“We selected the best possible team we could for the match, knowing that this is going to be an epic encounter against the All Blacks at Eden Park, and many of these players have done the job for us before against them,” said Rassie Erasmus, the South Africa coach.

“This is obviously going to be a completely different challenge to what we’ve faced against them in the last two years, with the match being hosted in New Zealand, and also at a venue where they hold a fantastic record.”

Both Rugby Championship games will be screened live on Sky Sports, with Australia v Argentina kicking off at 5.30am in the UK and New Zealand v South Africa at 8.05am.