Former captain Sam Cane is back in the All Black No 7 jersey. Photo: Lynne Cameron/ActionPress
Springboks v All Blacks
Kick-off: 3am Sunday 1 September (NZT)
Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
Sam Cane is back in the All Black number seven jersey, named to start in Scott Robertson's side to take on the Springboks this weekend.
It is one of only minimal changes to the squad that defeated Argentina 42-10 at Eden Park earlier this month, as the All Blacks attempt to wrest back the initiative in The Rugby Championship.
As expected, Scott Barrett returns at lock and takes over the captaincy, which pushes Sam Darry to the bench and Josh Lord out of the squad. Barrett had missed the two tests against Argentina with a finger injury.
Cane's elevation to the starting side is due to an injury to Dalton Papali'i, however his experience in such a big test match will be a welcome addition.
He led the side and scored an important try the last time they played on Ellis Park, in a dramatic 35-23 win that played a part in preventing former coach Ian Foster from being fired.
The loose forward reshuffle sees Samipeni Finau comes onto the bench, in his first game back after being dropped for the Argentina series.
The team naming comes on a day where Robertson's opposite, Rassie Erasmus, made a big change by bringing Eben Etzebeth back onto the bench despite him not being named in the initial team.
Springboks: 1. Ox Nche 2. Bongi Nbonambi 3. Frans Malherbe 4. Pieter-Steph du Toit 5. Ruan Nortje 6. Siya Kolisi (c) 7. Ben-Jason Dixon 8. Jasper Wiese 9. Cobus Reinach 10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse 12. Damian de Allande 13. Jesse Kriel 14. Cheslin Kolbe 15. Aphelele Fassi
Bench: 16. Malcolm Marx 17. Gerhard Steenkamp 18. Vincent Koch 19. Eben Etzebeth 20. Elrigh Louw 21. Kwagga Smith 22. Grant Williams 23. Handre Pollard
All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams 2. Codie Taylor 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Scott Barrett (c) 5. Tupou Vaa'i 6. Ethan Blackadder 7. Sam Cane 8. Ardie Savea 9. TJ Perenara 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Jordie Barrett 13. Rieko Ioane 14. Will Jordan 15. Beauden Barrett
Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Sam Darry 20. Samipeni Finau 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Mark Tele'a
