Joe Moody
New Zealand All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has made 1 change to the side that thrashed France for their semifinal showdown against South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.
Joe Moody replaces the injured Wyatt Crockett (groin) at loosehead prop, with Ben Franks being promoted to the bench to provide cover.
1 Is the least number of changes that the All Blacks have made to their starting line-up so far in the tournament and the fewest between successive Rugby World Cup matches since making no changes at all to the side that defeated Australia in the 2011 semifinals and went on to beat France in the final.
No player in international test rugby has been on the winning side against the Springboks more often than Richie McCaw (19 times). Only Australia’s George Gregan (30 times) has played them more often than McCaw (25).
Brodie Retallick (6), Wyatt Crockett (5), Sam Cane (3), Luke Romano (2), TJ Perenara (1) and Codie Taylor (1) have won all of their individual test appearances against the Springboks.
McCaw sets a Rugby World Cup record in captaining his side for the 12th time in the competition, surpassing the 11 captain’s appearances by Martin Johnson and Will Carling (both England), Raphaël Ibañez (France), John Smit (South Africa) and Sam Warburton (Wales).
With his 21st appearance in a Rugby World Cup match, McCaw closes within 1 of the competition record, the 22 by England’s Jason Leonard. He overtakes Australia’s George Gregan (20) for outright 2nd place in the list.
Julian Savea is the leading try scorer at Rugby World Cup 2015 with 8 tries. These tries have him tied for the record in a single Rugby World Cup, a mark earlier established by Jonah Lomu (1999) and Bryan Habana (2007).
Keven Mealamu has been on the winning side in each of his last 14 Rugby World Cup appearances, a record streak for the competition.
6 Members of this All Blacks squad have made more than 10 Rugby World Cup appearances and have been on the winning side in all of them. They are Ma’a Nonu (13), Conrad Smith (13), Sam Whitelock (12), Jerome Kaino (12), Sonny Bill Williams (12) and Owen Franks (11).
Nonu has been on the winning side in his last 10 test appearances against South Africa. He is undefeated in his last 25 Tests (won 24, drawn 1) and also in his last 25 facing Southern Hemisphere opposition (won 23, drawn 2).
All Blacks: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (Captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams.
Date: Saturday 24 October
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
Kick-Off: 17:00 SA Time (16:00 BST, 15:00 GMT, Sunday 04:00 Sunday NZ Time)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
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