12.00am
MELBOURNE - Ali Williams and Chris Jack will play their hearts out for the All Blacks' third lock, Brad Thorn, demoted to the bench for tonight's match.
Three into two doesn't go and Thorn is the unlucky player to miss out, despite lifting his game to another level in starting all
four pool games while the other two locks recovered from injury at various stages.
While Jack and Williams had been the first-choice pair for six of the seven tests before the tournament, observers felt Thorn's improvement and his strength in the tight might have given him the nod against the powerful Springbok pack from the start.
Williams, 22, said Thorn's contribution could not be ignored.
"If anything, we have to repay Brad [Thorn] for the work that he's done, he's held the middle row together.
"[Selection] was up in the air. How can you rule out a man like Brad Thorn who has played so well? It's just tricky for him and hard for us. It's relieving we get our spot and it's great to have someone like that on the bench waiting to come on."
All Black coach John Mitchell said the good scrummaging of Thorn was only one aspect to consider, obviously opting for the aerial skills, mobility and more accurate defence of Williams.
Teams for NZ v SOUTH AFRICA (Melbourne, 8.35 tonight)
15. M. Muliaina v J vd Westhuizen
14. Doug Howlett v Ashwin Willemse
13. Leon MacDonald v Jorrie Muller
12. Aaron Mauger v De Wet Barry
11. Joe Rokocoko v Thinus Delport
10. Carlos Spencer v Derick Hougaard
9. Justin Marshall v J vd Westhuizen
8. Jerry Collins v Juan Smith
7. Richie McCaw v Danie Rossouw
6. Reuben Thorne (c) v Corne Krige (c)
5. Ali Williams v Victor Matfield
4. Chris Jack v Bakkies Botha
3. Greg Somerville v Faan Rautenbach
2. K. Mealamu v John Smit
1. Dave Hewett v C. Bezuidenhout
Reserves:
New Zealand: Mark Hammett, Kees Meeuws, Brad Thorn, Marty Holah, Steve Devine, Daniel Carter, Caleb Ralph.
South Africa: Danie Coetzee, Richard Bands, Selborne Boome, Schalk Burger, Neil de Kock, Louis Koen, Jaque Fourie.
- NZPA
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