All Blacks hero believes Scott Robertson has shown his hand to the Springboks with ‘very clear’ plan

Stephen Donald believes Scott Robertson will not veer too far away from the team he has selected against Argentina when they face the Springboks.

New Zealand’s head coach has made one just alteration to the side that overcame Los Pumas 41-24 last weekend with rookie Simon Parker coming into the XV.

The backline is unchanged while key duo Tamaiti Williams and Wallace Sititi have returned from injury on the bench.

There was heavy rotation from the All Blacks during the France series – some of that enforced – but it appears as though Robertson is beginning to nail down a settled team.

Parker’s selection is perhaps the biggest talking point and it remains to be seen whether he will be trusted for the massive South Africa encounter at Eden Park, but Donald believes that he has a chance to cement his place.

All Blacks rookie can be in the ‘box seat’

“If you go and play the house down, as we saw last year when Wallace had the chance, then that instantly puts you in the box seat,” he said on The Aftermatch with Kirst and Beav.

“The way they’ve juggled the squad and what you’ve seen in the last week, and the week before, it’s getting very clear what Razor thinks his top team is.

“We can pretty much bank what his top backline looks like now, that seems to be absolute; there seems to be no shuffling around that.

“Yes, there are changes this week, but that back division has stayed the same. The wings are the same, Will Jordan, obviously the midfield and even on the bench there is very little tinkering apart from the forced [changes].

“It would have been between Quinn Tupaea and Jim the Difference (Timoci Tavatavanawai), they would have been the two in consideration [for the bench].”

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Tupaea duly got the nod over Tavatavanawai following Anton Lienert-Brown’s concussion, which ruled him out of this weekend’s game in Buenos Aires.

Like Lienert-Brown, Tupaea can operate in both centre positions but has played mostly at 12 during his career and Donald predicts a bigger reshuffle in the backline if Billy Proctor is taken off.

All Blacks versatility

“With Anton not being there, the rest of the boys are more alert to have to realise that they’ve got to go elsewhere,” the 2011 Rugby World Cup winner said.

“Quinn’s probably going to cover 12 and maybe 13, but more likely if there’s an injury at 13, maybe Rieko [Ioane] goes there, Will Jordan goes to the wing, Damian [McKenzie] at full-back.

“That’s the flexibility of having guys like Will Jordan, Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane, who can all cover so many positions.

“The backline very much looks settled now and it’s just that forward pack where there is a little bit of tinkering with.

“The forwards are still a little bit up in the air as far as selection goes but definitely the backline, barring anything drastic, that will be your backline against the Boks.”

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