All Blacks coach Foster on facing Boks at Ellis Park: ‘Always a special occasion’

The All Blacks are heading into the second Rugby Championship Test at Ellis Park on Saturday with a lot to prove and plenty of motivation to end a dreadful run of results.

With five losses in their last six games and three in a row, the pressure on a team that is expected to be one of the best in the world, is massive, however coach Ian Foster claims that they are feeling good heading into the crunch match.

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“It has been a really good week. It was a good trip up here, great weather conditions and great training conditions,” said Foster.

“We dropped the first game of the (Rugby) Championship and we are really determined to go into this one, which is always going to be a special occasion at Ellis Park, with plenty of motivation.

“We are a group that has taken the lessons and are working hard on the growth part of our game, and it has been a solid week of prep so far.”

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Foster has made four changes to his starting line-up from the team that went down 26-10 in the tournament opener in Mbombela last weekend, with props Tyrell Lomax and Ethan de Groot coming in, alongside loose forward Shannon Frizell and flyhalf Richie Mo’unga.

Beauden Barrett will feature off the bench, along with George Bower and Akira Ioane, having all started the first match, while Angus Ta’avao drops out of the match 23.

“As a group of selectors we went through the same process we normally do at selection time, like where we think the group is at currently,” explained Foster.

“We felt both Tyrell and Ethan are in a really good position. Particularly Ethan coming in, it’s a great opportunity for him to start. He’s a strong scrummager, so I am excited about that.

“Having Shannon’s experience is important and he looked raring to go off the bench, while Richie has trained really well and has contributed massively behind the scenes, so it was a chance to switch those two around.”

It is a make or break match for the team, with another loss possibly set to trigger big changes for them once they return home.