New Zealand clash with South Africa in Round 3 of the Rugby Championship in Auckland on Saturday, the first of two head to heads which will have a significant bearing on the race to land the title.
New Zealand v South Africa, Saturday 6th September, Auckland , KO 09:05 (South African time)
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
Weather Forecast – Auckland
New Zealand:
New Zealand paid the price for ill discipline in their Round 2 defeat (29-23) to Argentina in Buenos Aires. They scored 3 tries (Proctor, Newell, Taukei’aho) and conceded 2 but Will Jordan and Tupou Vaa’i went to the bin for cynical fouls in the first half and a deliberate knock-on by Sevu Reece in the final 10 minutes torpedoed their hopes of a comeback. The All Blacks did earn a losing bonus point in Round 2 and they top the log, 1 point better off than the Wallabies and 2 clear of South Africa and Argentina.
A full house of log points in a 41-24 victory over Los Pumas in Round 1 was a perfect start for the All Blacks, courtesy of tries from Reece (2), Ratima, Savea, Taukei’aho (2).
After this game New Zealand host the Springboks again in Wellington and they finish up at home and then away to Australia. On the back of the Round 2 results the All Blacks price to win the 2025 Rugby Championship title has drifted from 7/20 to 11/20 with WSB.
South Africa:
The Boks started last week's clash with the Wallabies in Cape Town as 12.5 point favourites on the bookmakers main handicap line. They won the game 30-22 with Moodie, Smith and Etzebeth scoring the 3 tries, all converted by Pollard who also landed 3 penalties but they fell short of earning a bonus point.
South Africa had started thier Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Johannesburg in the region of 16.5 point favourites, however they came unstuck as the Wallabies put in a sterling second half display to come out on top 38-22. There was little sign of what was to come when South Africa were 22-0 up early doors but the second half saw the Boks fail to add to their points tally whilst the Wallabies ran in 5 further tries (6 in total).
South Africa have 4 points on what is a congested log and after this they face the All Blacks again in Wellington. They will host Argentina in Round 5 and then take on Los Pumas for a second time in the final round in a game which will be staged at Twickenham. South Africa are now 5/2 second favourites (from 33/10) with WSB to defend the Rugby Championship title they won in 2024.
Recent Head to Head
2024 RC Cape Town South Africa 18-12 New Zealand
2024 RC Johannesburg South Africa 31-27 New Zealand
2023 RWC Final Paris New Zealand 11-12 South Africa
2023 RWC (WU) Twickenham New Zealand 7-35 South Africa
2023 RC Auckland New Zealand 35-20 South Africa
2022 RC Johannesburg South Africa 23–35 New Zealand
2022 RC Nelspruit South Africa 26-10 New Zealand
Team News
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Stated, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Jan Hendrik Wessels, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker
The Betting
Average early show, subject to change
New Zealand -3.5 points at 9/10
South Africa +3.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Week 3 of the Rugby Championship will be posted on our Rugby Championship Blog which you can view here.
Likewise Currie Cup Week 7 bets will be posted on this blog and picks for the pool stage of the Womens RWC can be found here.
Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our discussion forum.