Codie Taylor will lead the All Blacks for the first time in a 109-cap career when New Zealand face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, in the final tour match before the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Test series opens against the Springboks at Ellis Park.
Taylor, who missed the 38-21 win over the Stormers and Tuesday's 54-0 demolition of the Sharks in Durban with a calf problem, becomes the third player to captain the side on South African soil this month. He is the most experienced forward in the matchday 23 by a distance.
"Huge congratulations to Codie on his first All Blacks captaincy," head coach Dave Rennie said in naming the side. "He is a top man and has done a great job leading this tour group. This is a proud moment for an All Blacks centurion who has made a massive contribution to this team as a player and a leader."
Rennie has picked an entirely fresh starting XV. Beauden Barrett goes to fullback with Leroy Carter and Josh Moorby on the wings, Rieko Ioane shifts into midfield alongside Anton Lienert-Brown, and Josh Jacomb makes his first start at first five-eighth after debuting off the bench in Cape Town. Peter Lakai, Anton Segner and Simon Parker form the loose trio; Taylor packs down between Xavier Numia and Tyrel Lomax.
The more interesting question is how much of it is a genuine Test trial. Rennie was blunt when asked at his Johannesburg press conference on Thursday how many of his selection headaches — scrumhalf, lock, loose forward, wing — would be answered by Saturday night.
"Yeah, a lot of them," he replied. "We've already got a group of players in mind, but there're a number of spots where performances this weekend could tilt our thinking."
He was careful, though, not to let anyone read the teamsheet as a draft of the first Test side. "The side we're playing against the Bulls will be quite different to the first Test team, but I think there will be a number of guys against the Bulls who were back up again," Rennie said, adding: "The job of the players this weekend is to apply pressure on us through performance."
Assistant coach Tana Umaga struck the same note earlier in the week, before Richie Mo'unga was called in as injury cover for Billy Proctor. "Look, nothing's set in stone at this stage and everyone's got an opportunity," Umaga said. "We came over with teams already set in place so that everyone got that opportunity to push their case. Already there's been some guys that have really pushed their case forward, and that's all we're looking for: everyone having the ability to compete. And if they want to play in Test matches against South Africa, then they have to put their best foot forward."
Rennie expects a different kind of examination at Loftus to the two he has already had. "We know what's coming. He's always got a tough forward pack, but they do have a mindset where they're prepared to play, a little bit more than the two sides we've faced so far," he said of opposite number Johan Ackermann. "They'll still kick a lot and they'll still challenge us, but they will play if they get an opportunity."
Ackermann, for his part, has promised not to treat the fixture as a hit-out. "We're going to go as strong as we can," the Bulls coach told reporters. "Barring the Springboks who aren't available and Akker van der Merwe, who is injured, and Sebastian de Klerk, who's injured, all the other names that are available will play."
He was candid about the cost of squeezing the match into a truncated pre-season. The URC runners-up had their off-season cut from five weeks to three to be ready for it.
"It has put a bit of pressure on us, and the challenge is your preseason is the only time you've got to play around with stuff," Ackermann said. "Now, we are just picking on the squad that we've got left, with the odd guys who are unlucky not to be selected. It is a bit unfair, but that's the hand we've got."
Six of Rennie's squad backed up from Tuesday's match in Durban, five of them off the bench, with scrumhalf Cortez Ratima the only starter to do so. After Saturday, the tourists get a clear week before Ellis Park.
"It'll be nice to have a full seven days in preparation, but we're getting closer," Rennie said. "There's a lot of competition for places. You look at our wingers, there're some tough decisions there as well. That's what you want."
