Injury-hit All Blacks hand Codie Taylor captaincy for Springboks series decider in Baltimore

New Zealand will face South Africa in a series decider at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday with a depleted leadership group, after losing captain Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Quinn Tupaea to injury during the third Test at FNB Stadium in Soweto — a defeat that left the All Blacks trailing 2-1 in the series.

Hooker Codie Taylor, who sat out the Soweto Test, will resume the captaincy he holds for the tour. Head coach Dave Rennie described the decision as straightforward. “He’s the tour captain, so that made sense to us,” Rennie said. “We’ve lost a fair bit of experience over the weekend, with Luke and Ardie out. With both of them unavailable, we felt Codie coming back in — he’s an excellent player and gives us a lot of leadership and experience, and that’s been really valuable throughout the week.”

The experience deficit is stark. Savea’s 112 Test caps at number eight are replaced by Peter Lakai’s 13, while Jacobson’s 30 caps give way to Ethan Blackadder’s 14. Wallace Sititi, now capped 22 times, will again provide impact off the bench.

Sititi acknowledged the scale of the loss but pointed to collective responsibility within the loose forward group. “Obviously, we’ve got some great calibre there with Luke and Ardie, and even Quinn as well,” he said. “So we definitely lose a lot — a bit of quality there. At the same time, there’s a lot of competition here in that loose forward group. We’ve been together long enough to know that when it’s time to step up, it’s your time to step up.”

Sititi also revealed that a “stern review” of the Soweto defeat set the tone for the week’s preparations, with the All Blacks identifying their penalty count as a critical area for improvement. “I think our penalty count definitely has to improve,” he said. “The Springboks just took the opportunities a bit better than we did. Anywhere you give away penalties, it’s always an issue — we’re just giving them easy entries into our 22.”

Rennie confirmed that hooker Asafo Aumua will provide late-game impact from the bench. With a first series win over South Africa on a northern-hemisphere tour at stake, Sititi was clear about the mindset heading into Saturday. “Every game is a must-win in this black jersey, in this environment. We had a pretty stern review, and now it’s about moving forward. We’ve got a big Test on Saturday.”