The All Blacks vs the Springboks - BRING IT ON!

The first match of the 2010 Tri-Nations, the Springboks versus the All Blacks at Eden Park - BRING IT ON. For the first time in years, there's Kiwis being respectful about the Boks, rude about the Boks. Makes a change from not caring about the Boks because the Wallabies were the ones to worry about. This is what Sean Fitpatrick thinks about the match: http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/100704/Boks_scare_me_Fitzpatrick

The AB team is solid as always. Where I'd be worried about them is at centre, where Nonu and Smith, while a great combination, are both coming off injuries. They are looking a bit light at lock too. Their main man is Dan Carter who's been a bit up and down, and they need him at 100% to do what they want to do. I'm not convinced their rocket man is the best bet either.

For the Boks, Fourie Du Preez is a big loss, Januarie been playing fine but he's uneven. De Villiers at wing is odd, while sticking lump Olivier at centre is not the right move for me, even if he was good in S14. Morne Steyn is a good player, but isn't going to be a creative spark if tthey need one. The Bok mentality is as enigmatic as ever, but they are really up for this one, they don't fear the AB's at all, but is that going to mean confidence or cockiness?

Who's going to win. There's South Africans saying put your house on the Blacks and lots of nervous Kiwis - lets go with the Boks on S14 form.

If you're in Dublin, the place to watch it is the Wool Shed, go and queue on the pavement to get a decent seat and soak up the atmosphere and the friendly rivalry.

Picture from:http://www.flickr.com/photos/25931541@N02/2456786690/

Teams:

SOUTH AFRICA: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp. Reserves: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon.


New Zealand: 15. Mils Muliaina, 14. Cory Jane, 13. Conrad Smith, 12. Ma’a Nonu, 11. Joe Rokocoko, 10. Dan Carter, 9. Jimmy Cowan, 8. Kieran Read, 7. Richie McCaw (captain), 6. Jerome Kaino, 5. Tom Donnelly, 4. Brad Thorn, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Keven Mealamu, 1. Tony Woodcock Bench: 16. Corey Flynn, 17. Ben Franks, 18. Samuel Whitelock, 19. Liam Messam, 20. Piri Weepu, 21. Aaron Cruden, 22. Richard Kahui