All Blacks coach promises big match against Springboks

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen on Thursday promised "a performance to be proud of" in Saturday's World Cup semi-final against South Africa as he announced just one change to his team.

Published : Oct 22, 2015 18:21 IST , London

The All Blacks trail the Springboks 1-2 in the head to head record at Rugby World Cups.
The All Blacks trail the Springboks 1-2 in the head to head record at Rugby World Cups.
lightbox-info

The All Blacks trail the Springboks 1-2 in the head to head record at Rugby World Cups.

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen on Thursday promised “a performance to be proud of” in Saturday's World Cup semi-final against South Africa as he announced just one change to his team.

Joe Moody comes in for loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett who suffered a groin strain in the All Blacks 62-13 quarter-final win over France.

“We're ready to go,” Hansen said ahead of the Twickenham clash.

The defending champions had prepared well during the week to “produce another game we can all be proud of” after demolishing France.

“Though we've met (South Africa) many times over the years, we've only played three times at the Rugby World Cup and these Cup finals matches are totally different,” Hansen said. “They have a live-or-die nature to them and both teams will be desperate to advance. As a group we're really looking forward to this challenge. It will require a massive amount of intensity and composure and accurate skill execution. This team has high expectations of it and enjoys the big occasions.”

Moody was called into the New Zealand side after Tony Woodcock was injured out of the tournament in their final pool game against Tonga.

This is fewest changes the All Blacks have made to their starting line-up so far in the tournament and the smallest between successive World Cup matches since making no changes at all to the side that defeated Australia in the 2011 semi-finals and went on to beat France in the final.

Wing Julian Savea, who scored three of the All Blacks nine tries against France, has scored eight tries to equal the single Tournament record held by South Africa's Bryan Habana, who he faces on Saturday and All Blacks great Jonah Lomu.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment