Ian Foster will relish the clash of styles in Saturday’s World Cup final, with the New Zealand head coach picking his biggest prop to counter South Africa.
The Springboks picked a bench for the final stacked with seven forwards, leaving space for only one back. Among those heavyweight replacements, known as the “Bomb Squad”, is the formidable Ox Nché, who destroyed England’s scrum in the semi-final.
To counter his inevitable introduction in the second half, Foster has selected the 20st tight-head prop Nepo Laulala on the replacements bench instead of Fletcher Newell, who is 2½ stone lighter. He admitted it was a selection designed for Nché, who is 5ft 8in and 18st.
“It is certainly a response, not so much to the power but the techniques we feel we will have to deal with,” Foster said. “Nepo is a very strong scrummager, very experienced. He has trained so well and he’s disappointed not to have played the last two. But with the likes of Sam Whitelock on the bench, we’ve got a lot of confidence in that group coming on.”
In the most recent meeting between the sides, South Africa beat New Zealand 35-7 at Twickenham in August in a World Cup warm-up match.
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That was the first time the Springboks used their 7-1 bench split and they won the game by a record margin. During that match the New Zealand lock Scott Barrett was sent off for two yellow-card offences, and their captain, Sam Cane, was also sent to the sin-bin.
“We doubled up with their 7-1 split by playing with 14 men and then 13 men for quite a part of that game. We tried that clever strategy and decided we didn’t like it,” Foster joked. “We’re going to try a different one this week.”
South Africa also used their 7-1 split in the 13-8 pool stage defeat by Ireland. Foster said he had no problem with the tactic.
“That’s what I love about the game, that people play different ways and try different ways,” he said. “They’ve got their way that they think suits their strengths, but it doesn’t really change anything we do, to be frank.
“Our strategy suits us, their strategy suits them, and it makes it kind of interesting on Saturday night. We know there are two different styles. They’re great at their style, we’re great at ours.”
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With 1,387 Test caps, this is the All Blacks’ most experienced team to play a Rugby World Cup final.
Sam Whitelock has moved to the bench for New Zealand, with Brodie Retallick replacing him at lock alongside Scott Barrett. Whitelock will become the first ever male player to appear in three World Cup finals if he enters the field and would be playing in his 153rd and final Test. Retallick and the scrum half Aaron Smith are also retiring from international rugby after Saturday’s game.
“We know it’s the last game for a number of iconic players, but that‘s the case for both teams. The occasion in front of us is so exciting and we don’t want to think about post-game,” Foster said.
New Zealand were considered outsiders to win the tournament before it started, but either they or South Africa will become the first team to win the World Cup four times on Saturday.
“We may have lost to France at the start of this tournament but this team has thrived on focusing on the now,” Foster said. “It’s something we’ve loved doing, it enables us to deal with any outside noise around the team.”
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New Zealand team B Barrett; W Jordan, R Ioane, J Barrett, M Telea; R Mo’unga, A Smith; E de Groot, C Taylor, T Lomax; B Retallick, S Barrett; S Frizell, S Cane (capt), A Savea.
Replacements S Taukei’aho, T Williams, N Laulala, S Whitelock, D Papali’i, F Christie, D McKenzie, A Lienert-Brown.
New Zealand v South Africa
Saturday, 8pm BST, Paris
TV ITV 1
