All Blacks forwards coach flags fresh bodies needed for Soweto decider after brutal RGR schedule

New Zealand’s All Blacks are set for selection changes ahead of the third Test against South Africa in Soweto, with forwards coach Jason Ryan acknowledging the toll that back-to-back Tests in Johannesburg and Cape Town have taken on the squad during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

Seven All Blacks played every minute of both opening Tests, while five others compounded their workloads by featuring in the midweek Lions match before coming off the bench in Saturday’s 33-26 defeat at DHL Stadium. Ryan, who is not a selector himself, said the priority in the days following Cape Town was recovery rather than conditioning.

“I think that the next couple of days we’ll need to get the boys really, really freshened up, and how we manage this week will be important, especially the start of the week,” Ryan told reporters in Cape Town. “We’ll give the boys a bit of a reset day today. It’s been full-on rugby, but that’s touring, right?”

The 44-man touring squad has been hit hard across the first six matches of the trip, with more than a dozen injuries and illnesses opening the door for fringe players to push their cases. Ryan said that competition within the group had been one of the tour’s more encouraging developments.

“I think if there’s a couple of things that this tour has brought, it has brought competition,” he said. “There’s genuine competition in the squad right across the park. It’s pretty exciting, and that’s the way you want it. So I think selectors have got a tough job this week, which is good.”

Ryan indicated that players who have completed two full 80-minute Tests in consecutive weeks would be the most likely candidates for rotation, alongside those managing physical complaints. The emphasis, he stressed, would be on arriving at the Soweto Test with batteries fully charged rather than squeezing in additional fitness work.

“We’ve got to make sure that their batteries are full at the end of the week. I don’t think we need to concentrate on getting any fitter or stronger as such this time of the tour. We’ve just got to keep them mentally sharp and physically ready.”

New Zealand trail the three-Test series after the Cape Town defeat, making selection decisions for the Soweto match all the more consequential as the All Blacks look to level the contest.