Springboks name unchanged side to face All Blacks

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has named an unchanged lineup to face New Zealand in a Rugby Championships test at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.

South Africa leads the four-nations Championships after beating Australia 38-12 last weekend its first-ever win over Australia in Brisbane. That extended the Springboks' winning streak in tests to nine matches and they now face the challenge of beating New Zealand in New Zealand for the first time since 2009 and at Eden Park for the first time since 1937.

Meyer said South Africa "had a good win last weekend, but that is in the past now. Playing the All Blacks in New Zealand is the ultimate challenge in rugby and one we're very excited about facing.

"We're very fortunate to have a touring squad of 28 fit players to choose from but following the performance last weekend against Australia. It made sense not to make any changes," Meyer said.

"Continuity in selection has been something we wanted to address this year and I'm very happy that we've not been forced into making too many changes yet. The 23 who played against Australia, deserved another chance this week as we believe in rewarding good form."

New Zealand will name its lineup for the match on Thursday morning. Backrower Kieran Read is expected to lead the All Blacks in the absence of captain Richie McCaw who suffered a knee injury during last weekend's 28-13 win over Argentina.

The 21-year-old flanker Sam Cane is expected to take McCaw's place on the openside in on his 10th test match.

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South Africa: Zane Kirchner, Willie le Roux, J.J. Engelbrecht, Jean de Villiers (captain), Bryan Habana, Morn Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Francois Louw, Flip van der Merwe, Eben Etzebeth, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira.

Reserves: Adriaan Strauss, Gurthr Steenkamp, Coenie Oosthuizen, Juandr Kruger, Siya Kolisi, Jano Vermaak, Pat Lambie, Jan Serfontein.