MONDAY, 11.30AM:
ALL Blacks coach John Hart added three new players to the 23-member squad to play against South Africa in a tri-nations match on Saturday July 19 at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. Mark Cooksley, Canterbury Crusaders’ captain Todd Blackadder and Jon Preston were added to the squad. Preston was recalled to the squad as a standby, then moved to the bench when Andrew Mehrtens’ hamstring injury failed to respond to treatment.
The All Blacks have no fond memories of Johannesburg, having lost the 1995 World Cup Finals there, and last year’s final Test. Hart said those two losses were a spur for his team. “It’s a head-on challenge for us, we will give it heaps,” he said.
“We know that it will be tough as always, but we love to meet the South Africans,” said prop Olo Brown, who played in the first match against the Springboks in 1992, after South Africa”s return to international competition. The All Blacks assemble in Auckland on Wednesday and fly out the same afternoon for Johannesburg.