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Read hopes new faces can front up against the Springboks

New Zealand captain Kieran Read

Kieran Read is excited to see how New Zealand’s rookies handle the pressure of playing against South Africa for the first time on Saturday.

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The All Blacks lead the Rugby Championship by three points going into a potentially pivotal clash with their second-placed opponents at the QBE Stadium in Albany.

A win would see the 2016 champions take a major step towards retaining their crown, albeit they will rely on some fresh faces to get the job done in their final home fixture of the year.

Kane Hames will make his first start in the front row while fellow prop Nepo Laulala, recalled winger Rieko Ioane and full-back Damian McKenzie will all come up against the Springboks for the first time in their Test careers.

“It’s great for this whole group to have had experiences like we’ve had over the last wee while, and now against a South Africa team coming here with a bit of confidence,” Read said.

“For the new guys, it’s just about them nailing their little bit, whether that’s in the scrum or getting where they need to be on attack. They don’t need to try too hard. That’s been the message this week for those guys, and they’ve been great.

“They’ve come in really excited, with plenty of enthusiasm and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do.”

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While South Africa may target the two relatively new faces in New Zealand’s pack, Read believes familiarity from playing together in Super Rugby can help Hames and Laulala stand up to the challenge.

“The two guys in there [at prop] scrum well together,” he added.

“They’ve worked well at the Chiefs, and it’s not just a prop thing, it’s a whole-eight thing in the scrum. We’ve also got some good experience with Wyatt [Crockett] to come off the bench, so he’ll bring a calming influence.”

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Tom 8 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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