Ankle injury forces All Blacks into late squad change for Johannesburg Test against Springboks

Anton Segner has been ruled out of New Zealand’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test series opener against South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday, after the All Blacks confirmed the loosehead is dealing with acute inflammatory arthritis with no clear return timeline.

Head coach Dave Rennie has made a straight swap, bringing Simon Parker off the bench to replace Segner at No.19. The change leaves the starting loose forward trio of Tupou Vaa’i, Luke Jacobson and Ardie Savea intact, with Parker joining Peter Lakai among the replacements.

Segner, 25, is in his first season with the All Blacks and had done enough to earn his place in the matchday 23 through two strong bench appearances in July and two powerful starts against the Stormers and Bulls on the RGR tour. Those performances had secured him the No.19 jersey for the Springboks clash before the injury intervened.

Parker was also part of the All Blacks’ July squad but did not feature in any of the three matches during that window, only getting his first minutes in the Stormers and Bulls victories alongside Segner. He now steps into a high-stakes environment for his most prominent role of the tour to date.