South Africa vs New Zealand Preview & Prediction | 2024 Rugby Championship | Round 4
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South Africa are on the brink of winning the Rugby Championship and are aiming for back-to-back wins over great rivals New Zealand in Cape Town.
START DATE/TIME: Saturday 7th September, 2024: UK – 4:00pm / US ET – 11:00am / US PT – 8:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – FloRugby
SOUTH AFRICA FORM: TOUCHING DISTANCE FROM THE TITLE
South Africa sit comfortably atop the Rugby Championship table after winning an enthralling clash against New Zealand last weekend, and the Springboks have now won all four matches they have contested at this year’s Rugby Championship.
Rassie Erasmus' men were trailing by ten points at Ellis Park Stadium last week but pulled back the deficit and ultimately prevailed 31-27. They now boast an eight-point lead over the All Blacks in the table.
LAST FIVE: WWWWL
NEW ZEALAND FORM: ALL BLACKS CONTINUE TO FALTER
It’s not been a positive tournament for the All Blacks so far and last week’s defeat to their great rivals will have been particularly painful given that they had victory in the palm of their hands.
An inability to close out matches has plagued New Zealand recently, and they know that they must win here to have any realistic chance of catching South Africa in the table.
LAST FIVE: LWLWW
SOUTH AFRICA TEAM NEWS
SQUAD: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am
NEW ZEALAND TEAM NEWS
SQUAD: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele'a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa'i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barret
SOUTH AFRICA VS NEW ZEALAND PREDICTION
South Africa can wrap up the Rugby Championship here – depending on how bonus points play out – with two games to spare, and they will be fully deserving of that accolade given how impressive they have been in the opening three rounds.
New Zealand will no doubt come out fighting here after their painful loss last week, but South Africa will be determined to maintain their recent Southern Hemisphere dominance over their rivals. They can be fancied to record back-to-back victories over the reigning champions, although it is likely to be another closely-fought contest.
SOUTH AFRICA VS NEW ZEALAND TIP: SOUTH AFRICA TO WIN
