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Cape Town - Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has admitted that he's happy they don't have to chase a bonus-point victory against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday.
In last year's Rugby Championship Test at the same ground, the Boks were in with a shot at winning the Rugby Championship if they beat the All Blacks with a four-try bonus-point, which forced them to take more risks.
However, this time round the New Zealanders have already wrapped up the title, which means the Boks can only focus on trying to win the game, a point Meyer highlighted in an interview with Beeld.
"We're very excited about this Test. The fact that we only have to win, and are not in a situation like last year where we had to score a bonus point try to win the Rugby Championship, takes a lot of pressure off our shoulders."
"Last week against the Wallabies we committed a number of errors that didn't please me. We know the All Blacks will pose a much bigger challenge."
Saturday's Test at Ellis Park will be a sell-out, with the Golden Lions Rugby Union indicating all 62 000 tickets have been sold out.
Kick-off is at 17:05.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen
New Zealand:
15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Reid, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Joe Moody
Substitutes: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Ryan Crotty
In last year's Rugby Championship Test at the same ground, the Boks were in with a shot at winning the Rugby Championship if they beat the All Blacks with a four-try bonus-point, which forced them to take more risks.
However, this time round the New Zealanders have already wrapped up the title, which means the Boks can only focus on trying to win the game, a point Meyer highlighted in an interview with Beeld.
"We're very excited about this Test. The fact that we only have to win, and are not in a situation like last year where we had to score a bonus point try to win the Rugby Championship, takes a lot of pressure off our shoulders."
"Last week against the Wallabies we committed a number of errors that didn't please me. We know the All Blacks will pose a much bigger challenge."
Saturday's Test at Ellis Park will be a sell-out, with the Golden Lions Rugby Union indicating all 62 000 tickets have been sold out.
Kick-off is at 17:05.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen
New Zealand:
15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Reid, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Joe Moody
Substitutes: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Ryan Crotty
