Opinion - The All Blacks have been particularly uptight recently about people knowing what their team lists are before they've officially announced them, but they can't be mad this week. The starting XV for Friday night's (London time) test against the Springboks at Twickenham stood as probably the easiest to deduce in years.
For All Black fans, that's a great sign, though. We're only a fortnight away from the opening match of the World Cup and if there were still question marks over who was going to be playing when they got to Paris, things would have been very awry. The team is in full noise mode now.
All Blacks v Springboks, 25 August (local) at Twickenham: 1 Ethan de Groot 2 Dane Coles 3 Tyrel Lomax 4 Samuel Whitelock 5 Scott Barrett 6 Luke Jacobson 7 Sam Cane (c) 8 Ardie Savea 9 Aaron Smith 10 Richie Mo'unga 11 Mark Telea 12 Jordie Barrett 13 Rieko Ioane 14 Will Jordan 15 Beauden Barrett
Bench: 16 Samisoni Taukei'aho 17 Tamaiti Williams 18 Fletcher Newell 19 Josh Lord 20 Tupou Vaa'i 21 Dalton Papalii 22 Cam Roigard 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
The one spot that was up for grabs was at blindside flanker, which has been filled by Luke Jacobson. Given that Jacobson only came off the bench in the dead-rubber Bledisloe test in Dunedin, it's tempting to think his inclusion was going to happen whether Shannon Frizell was injured or not. That's no slight on Frizell given his excellent form this year, but it's likely he will be called upon to do a mountain of work over the next couple of months.
Ian Foster cut a relaxed figure at the team naming press conference - of course, why wouldn't he after five test wins on the trot? He said the upcoming fixture was "a great way to test ourselves," and that the unusual six forward, two back bench combination was a "squad management technique".
"Clearly with Brodie Retallick and Shannon Frizell out… we really want to manage our locking stocks and utilise Josh Lord while he's over here."
Ian Foster. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Retallick's absence is very much made up for by partnering Scott Barrett with Samuel Whitelock, with the former having probably the best season of his life so far in 2023. Just what happens when Retallick is fit again will be interesting - it may mean Whitelock finishes his All Black career riding the pine.
Going through the rest of the team, it's very reassuring to know that there is a solid propping rotation led by Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax, with veteran Dane Coles getting a last run out on Twickenham before he retires at the end of the season. Hooker is probably the only position where Foster can afford a bit of sentimentality without disrupting the side's build-up - while it's likely Codie Taylor and Samisoni Taukei'aho are the preferred duo, the load management on them is offset a lot by Coles' vast experience.
Eben Etzebeth. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Meanwhile, while the Springboks have named an interesting side, captain Eben Etzebeth leaving everyone in no doubt about how they are approaching the challenge on Friday night.
"It's a test match," was his laconic yet telling answer to what the point of this game is, unsurprising really given that Etzebeth played through the grief of his father's passing the last time the All Blacks and Springboks met.
The game is sold out, with a unique atmosphere expected between the rival sets of New Zealand and South African migrant workers based in the UK. While that's a great result for those communities and the match organisers, it is causing a bit of embarrassment for the English rugby team, whose test the next day against Fiji has only sold half the number of tickets.
Telegraph Sport understands that around 40,000 tickets have been sold for the final warm-up match against Fiji on Saturday with the upper deck of Twickenham being blocked off. @danscho1
— chris jones (@chrisjonespress) August 22, 2023
Admittedly, there is one key factor out of the RFU's control, as a train strike scheduled for Saturday will deter any sort of walk-up crowd. It is stinking hot in London right now, so it really doesn't feel like rugby season anyway.
Steve Hansen's surprising link with the Wallabies saw UK media attention suddenly arrive on the All Blacks, with several journalists making the trip to Teddington to quiz his former assistant Foster. For his part, Foster did a pretty decent job of laughing it off and pointing the finger back at the more outrageous headlines, although it was lost on him that most of those were direct quotes from one of his own players.
Hansen has gone out of his way in the last 48 hours to label the affair a storm in a teacup, and he's probably right. On Friday night the joking stops though - there's nothing funny about the prospect of a fired-up Springbok side looking to defend their world champion status.
