Jeff Wilson, Karl Te Nana and Angus Ta’avao say the best available All Blacks 23 must face the Boks on Saturday, with Richie Mo’unga preferred to Damian McKenzie at 10.
The Springboks and All Blacks will clash in the second round of the Rugby Championship, after claiming respective wins over Australia and Argentina.
South Africa thrashed the Wallabies 43-12 in Pretoria, and will face a high-flying All Blacks side in Auckland coming off a 41-12 mauling of Los Pumas in Mendoza.
McKenzie was one of several All Blacks to make a statement last week, but speaking on Sky Sport’s ‘The Breakdown’, Wilson suggests the Chiefs flyhalf is probably not the right choice against the world champions.
“Ultimately [the selectors] will look at Damian McKenzie and think this is a massive pass mark; they put him under pressure and gave him a new combination around him that he hasn’t played with before, and he delivered on the key attributes,” the former All Black told his fellow pundits.
“[But] I’m still not convinced, having watched the game again, that he’ll start this weekend, I honestly don’t know against the Springboks.”
Te Nana added: “I think they knew that coming in, that they had to give him a start and give him confidence.
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“He’s very different and we’ve got three very different options in that 10 jersey, whether it be Richie, D-Mack or Beauden Barrett … against a team like [Argentina] that’s where D-Mack will come in, but I still think Richie is our number one 10. You got to go with your number ones.”
The Bok sent 14 players, including enforcer Eben Etzebeth, ahead to New Zealand last week in preparation for Saturday’s clash, with the remaining contingent set to join later on Monday.
On whether head coach Ian Foster needs to tweak the All Blacks lineup, Ta’avao said: “I think you’ve got to go with your A-team; what we’ll see next week will be the best available squad.
“We’ve already seen SA send their ‘A’ team ahead to New Zealand and they’ll be putting out their best squad and it’s going to have to be best squad v best squad and we’ll sort the rest out down the track.”
With a shortened Rugby Championship in a World Cup year, Saturday’s game at Mount Smart Stadium is likely a tournament decider, and Wilson reckons neither team will give an inch.
He added: “[New Zealand’s] focus has to be narrow right now, we have to go to work, we’re not celebrating this performance and they won’t be either. They’ll be preparing now for what will be, I believe, will be a Rugby Championship defining game at Mount Smart Stadium, that’s what it is.
“Because the Springboks were so good against the Wallabies and most of their team was here, they didn’t even play their strongest team.
“This is like last year in Johannesburg, the second Test against the Springboks – this will decide the winner of the Rugby Championship.”
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