All Black tour captain Codie Taylor will get his first action of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour when the third match kicks off against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
Taylor has not been played because of a tight calf muscle, but with the first test against the Springboks just over a week away, Taylor needs now to come through the match to be ready for selection.
Cam Roigard, who was withdrawn from the Sharks game because of a calf, and Will Jordan, the All Black try scoring record holder, don’t make the team and are being protected ahead of the test series.
Jordan has an ankle injury and won’t get any action until he faces the Springboks at Ellis Park.
𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Codie Taylor will captain the All Blacks against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus in match three of #RugbysGreatestRivalry tour 🇳🇿🐂 pic.twitter.com/4zNxRaqooH
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 13, 2026
“The plan with Cam was to give him 30 minutes off the bench, but he pulled up a little lame. Still, we're pretty confident he'll be all right for the first test, and he's played a lot of rugby this year.
“So, yeah, the nucleus of it, again, guys like Paddy (Patrick Tuipulotu) and Fabian (Holland) haven't had a lot of food this year. We think having a run at altitude will be good for the lungs.”
Rennie said Jordan remained a doubt at this stage, with no games on tour yet.
“Yeah, I mean, we need to get decent training into him, a decent training week next week. So the original plan was to play him against the Sharks. When he wasn't good for that, we thought we'd play him and even give him some game time this week.
“He's not quite right, but he's definitely better. So, yeah, we're reasonably confident.”
'COOL MOMENT FOR CODIE'
Rennie also said that Damian McKenzie, who injured his ankle against the Sharks, was going to be in the 23 to face the Bulls, but they have withdrawn him as a precaution.
He added that he was happy Taylor would lead the team into battle.
“Obviously, a pretty cool moment for Codie. He's named tour captain and he's been on the sidelines for the first couple of games, so he's worked really hard and we're stoked for him, he's such a good man. I know the team is really excited about him leading the group on Saturday.
“He's physically ready for the game.”
Xavier Numia will make his debut, as will Josh Jacomb at 10 with Beauden Barrett shifting to fullback to accommodate the shift.
The last time Barrett played fullback was in 2024 on the All Blacks’ last visit to South Africa.
Tyrel Lomax is over his setback and returns to the front row while Tuipulotu and Holland are the same locks that faced the Stormers. Simon Parker, Anton Segner and Peter Lakai are the loose trio.
Anton Lienert-Brown will partner Rieko Ioane in the midfield, while Barrett is joined by Josh Moorby and Leroy Carter in the back three.
Five players who faced the Sharks are on the bench with Josh Lord, Wallace Sititi, Kyle Preston, Timoci Tavatavanawai and Emoni Narawa set to play from the reserves.
ALL BLACKS – 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Josh Jacomb, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Anton Segner, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Xavier Numia.
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Siale Lauaki, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Emoni Narawa.