Rassie Erasmus named an unchanged match-23 for this highly-anticipated clash and said the Boks' job is "to focus on executing our plan and our skills to the best of our ability".
Head-to-head (at RWC):
Played: 4; Won 2; Lost: 2; Points for: 64; Points against: 79; Tries for: 1; Tries against: 5; Win%: 50%
Rugby World Cup history:
- New Zealand have won 45 out of 51 matches in Rugby World Cup tournaments for a win percentage of 88% – the best at Rugby World Cups.
- South Africa have won 30 out of 36 Test matches in Rugby World Cup tournaments since their first admission in 1995 – a winning percentage of 83% and the second best at Rugby World Cups.
Miscellaneous:
- Tendai Mtawarira and Frans Steyn are the most experienced players in the 23 with 11 RWC caps each.
- The total test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 542.
- There are 190 caps in the backline with 352 caps among the forwards. There are a further 377 caps on the bench.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 27, the forwards 44 while the players on the bench average 47.
- The average age of the starting fifteen is 27.
Milestones:
- Duane Vermeulen will play in his 50th Test match while Eben Etzebeth will play in his 80th.
- Handré Pollard needs seven points to reach 100 points in RWC tournaments and 12 points in this Test match to reach 100 points against New Zealand.
- Pollard could surpass Percy Montgomery’s career record of 16 conversions against New Zealand. Currently he is on 15.
Match officials:
- The referee is Jérôme Garcès of France. This will be his 53rd Test match as a referee. South Africa was involved in thirteen of those Test matches, nine times on the losing side of which five were in matches against New Zealand.
- The assistant referees are Romain Poite of France and Karl Dickson of England, while Graham Hughes, also from England, will be the TMO.
