All Blacks coach Dave Rennie on Thursday named his team to face the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday, saying players could still force their way into the Test side. Veteran hooker Codie Taylor, the most experienced forward in the match 23 with 109 caps, will skipper a New Zealand side in their third match of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. The visitors beat the Stormers 38-21 and the Sharks 54-0. By the end of Saturday’s match in Pretoria, most of Rennie’s squad will have had a run before the first showdown against the Springboks at Ellis Park the following week. He admitted he faced selection dilemmas in various positions, such as scrumhalf, lock, loose forward and wing. Asked how many of those decisions would be answered on Saturday night, Rennie replied: “Yeah, a lot of them. We’ve already got a group of players in mind, but there’re a number of spots where performances this weekend could tilt our thinking.”But he made the point that the team he was fielding did not resemble his likely Test outfit. “The side we’re playing against the Bulls will be quite different to the first Test team, but I think there will be a number of guys against the Bulls who were back up again.”Six of the squad — five of them on the bench — played against the Sharks in Durban on Tuesday, with scrumhalf Cortez Ratima the only one in the starting XV. “It’ll be nice to have a full seven days in preparation [for the first Test], but we’re getting closer. There’s a lot of competition for places. You look at our wingers, there’re some tough decisions there as well. That’s what you want. “The job of the players this weekend is to apply pressure on us through performance.”There are some positions in the team that feature players with limited to no international experience, but most of them have veterans close by. Loosehead prop Xavier Numia has two caps, but he is in a front row with Taylor and tighthead Tyrel Lomax, with 51 caps. Wingers Josh Moorby and Leroy Carter have nine caps between them, but covering at fullback is Beauden Barrett, who has played 144 times for his country. The centre pairing of Anton Lienert-Brown (90) and Rieko Ioane (88) will offer a calming presence in midfield, outside flyhalf Josh Jacomb, who made his New Zealand debut off the bench against the Stormers on Friday night. Our mindset was we’re going to share the load in those first three games and provide opportunities for players. — All Blacks coach Dave RennieThe loose trio of Peter Lakai (10), Anton Segner (2) and Simon Parker (8) could have their work cut out against a potentially dangerous Bulls back row of Jeandre Rudolph, Hanro Liebenberg and skipper Marcell Coetzee. Rennie said he had not planned on stacking the team against the Bulls, which he pointed out was the best-performing South African franchise over the past half-a-decade. “Our mindset was we’re going to share the load in those first three games and provide opportunities for players. “Remember these guys haven’t played a huge amount of rugby lately and hence the reason they’ve played in the first and third games, to give them an opportunity. “We think it’s a really good side. We thought it was a good side the last couple of games as well.”All Blacks team (15-1): Beauden Barrett, Leroy Carter, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Josh Moorby, Josh Jacomb, Cortez Ratima, Peter Lakai, Anton Segner, Simon Parker, Patrick Tuipulotu, Fabian Holland, Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor (capt), Xavier NumiaReplacements: Samisoni Taukei’aho, George Bower, Siale Lauaki, Josh Lord, Wallace Sititi, Kyle Preston, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Emoni Narawa.
All Blacks’ performances against Bulls could settle Test selections, says Rennie
By the end of Saturday’s match in Pretoria most of the squad will have had a run












