The return of influential Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen could be the knockout blow for embattled All Blacks head coach Ian Foster when the teams meet at Ellis Park on Saturday.
A fit-again Vermeulen takes over from Jasper Wiese at the back of the scrum for the Rugby Championship Test in Johannesburg and Foster, who made four team changes from the heavy defeat in Nelspruit last Saturday, knows what the 2019 World Cup winner’s presence signals from the Boks.
Vermeulen will play his first Test in 2022 at Ellis Park, adding a commanding presence to the world champions’ pack and a master organiser on defence.
“It’s a bit like Malcolm Marx going to the bench, it’s back to their formula. [Vermeulen] is a quality player and I’m sure the intentions always were to get him back in there,” Foster told reporters on Thursday in Joburg on the eve of a potentially career-defining Test for the Kiwi.
“The Boks have got a great one-two punch from their No 8s, so whichever way around it was going to be a challenge. We’ve got great respect for Duane, he’s a great rugby player.
“It’s a formula they know and trust and it’s up to us to deal with it.”
TEAM NEWS: Desperate All Blacks turn to Richie
The knives are out for Foster, who has borne the brunt of the criticism as the All Blacks slumped to five losses in their past six Test matches, and many predicted a more radical approach to his team selections this week.
He said: “We really believe this is a time for growth and experience for this particular group. You tread that line, don’t you, at selection time; do you make wholesale changes and inject, or do you take lessons from it?
“I’ve said this group is still evolving and these experiences are absolute gold for us. We don’t like not winning but the reality is we’re getting some clear markers against a very good team.
“So, that’s what we’re banking on. It hasn’t been the start of a year that’s been [forcing us] to rotate a lot, it’s about growing the experiences and that’s what we’re doing.”
Flyhalf Richie Mo’unga gets his first start of 2022 with tighthead prop Fletcher Newell set to make his Test debut on Saturday.
Foster added: “Richie’s trained really well and contributed massively behind the scenes and it’s a chance to switch [him and Beauden Barrett] around.
“The fact that [Newell’s] in there reflects what he’s done in the last two weeks. In terms of his mood, he’s pretty level but underneath it all he’s pretty excited.
“There’ll be a few butterflies and stuff but first scrum, he’ll settle into it.”
