New Zealand vs South Africa Predictions & Tips - Springboks can bounce back with confident performance

New Zealand lead 59-36 with four draws in their last 99 Test matches against South Africa. This fixture will be the milestone 100th Test between the two nations.

The last time these two teams met was at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. New Zealand won that match 23-13 but it was the Springboks who went on to lift the trophy.

New Zealand are unbeaten in 2021 having seen off Tonga, Fiji (twice), Australia (thrice) and Argentina (twice). They have yet to really have a very tight encounter.

Since securing the Bledisloe Cup with a  3-0 series win over Australia, New Zealand have beaten Argentina in the last two weeks. In the first match the All Blacks were 39-0 victors while last week a second string side beat Los Pumas 36-13.

Recent clashes against South Africa have all been very tightly contested affairs. While South Africa have only managed one win since 2014, New Zealand have only once in their last five matches beaten the Springboks by more than two points.

New Zealand have recalled their star players after fielding a second string outfit against Argentina last weekend.

With Aaron Smith still out, TJ Perenara continues at scrumhalf. Beauden Barett starts at flyhalf while David Havili and Rieko Ioane continue their centre partnership.

South Africa will be very disappointed with their performances since arriving in Australia. After winning the British & Irish Lions series 2-1 and then seeing off Argentina on two successive weekends, they arrived in Australia full of confidence.

In the first Rugby Championship match against the Aussies, South Africa were clearly not up to speed. They lost 28-26 but could still easily have won the match. 

Last week was a different story, easily the worst performance by them in three years as they went down 30-17 to the Wallabies.

The Springboks confidence would have taken a massive blow, and reports in the camp seem to suggest some players are struggling with life in the bubble. But South Africa always up their game for this opposition and with it being the centenary Test, expect them to be firing from all cylinders.

Lood de Jager returns to lock after recovering from concussion. Marvin Orrie is the player that drops out of the side.

The only other change sees Franco Mostert shift to the bench from flank with Kwagga Smith taking his place on the side of the scrum.