The second week of the 2023 Rugby World Cup is here, and in the standalone match on Friday evening, we will see New Zealand and Namibia lock horns at Stadium de Toulouse.
New Zealand will be looking to bounce back after suffering a huge psychological blow in the opening match of the competition against France, while Namibia were taken apart by the Italians the following day.
Match preview
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History was made in the first match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup as the All Blacks suffered their first-ever pool-stage defeat at an RWC event, losing 27-13 to Les Bleus at Stade de France last week.
After heading into the break at 9-8, Ian Foster's side were still well in with a chance and stayed right on the tails of the French up to the hour mark when Will Jordan was shown a yellow card for a high tackle.
From there on, Les Bleus piled on the pressure, extending their lead to six points shortly after Jordan's departure to the sin bin, and they were too strong for the All Blacks in the closing stages of the match.
That result also marked the New Zealander's second loss in succession, following the defeat South Africa handed them at Twickenham in the warm-up matches, and is the first time that they have lost back-to-back games in over a year.
However, underestimating the All Blacks is never a good idea, and they will take that result on the chin and move forward, knowing that they can still go on to win the Webb Ellis Cup as the Springboks did in 2019 when they lost their opening match to Japan.
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Meanwhile, Namibia suffered a 52-8 defeat by Italy last week, which is the tournament's second-biggest loss so far, with only Romania losing by a bigger margin in the first week when they were hammered 82-8 by Ireland.
All eight of the Welwitschias points in that match came in the first period, with Tiaan Swanepoel's penalty in the first five minutes and Gerswin Mouton's try mid-way through the half, though they were down 17-8 by the break and carried very little threat in the second 40.
Allister Coetzee's side had a mixed lead-up to the tournament, which included a 26-18 loss against Uruguay at the start of last month, followed by a 28-26 win over Chile the next week.
Namibia have qualified for each of the last six Rugby World Cups since 1999, but they have not managed a single win in that time, with their only point at the RWC coming in a draw against Canada, though that resulted from the match being cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis in 2019.
The Welwitschias have faced the All Blacks in each of the last two World Cups and were beaten comprehensively by them on both occasions, which most would expect will be the likely outcome in this one as well.
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Team News
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Foster has made nine changes to the side he put out against France last week, but it is one of the six players to retain their spot who makes the headlines.
Second-row Sam Whitelock will win his 148th New Zealand cap in Toulouse, drawing level with the legendary Richie McCaw as the most-capped player in the nation's history.
Whitelock will retire at the end of the tournament but looks set to become only the second man - after 171-cap Wales legend Alun Wyn Jones - to make 150 international appearances at this tournament.
The towering lock could also become the most capped World Cup player of all time too, with Friday night set to be his 21st appearance at the tournament, one behind the record jointly held by McCaw and England legend Jason Leonard.
Cam Roigard has been selected to make his first start for the All Blacks in this one, while outside him Damian McKenzie will make his first World Cup start at 10, on his 43rd appearance for his country.
David Havili will make his first Test start of the year, Anton Lienert-Brown moves into the number 13 spot, while the dependable Beauden Barrett retains his place in the fullback role.
Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga drop to the bench after forming the halves pairing last week, while Mark Telea will be rested for this encounter.
Namibia have made six changes to their team for this match after their big loss last week, with Jason Benade, Johan Coetzee, Prince Gaoseb, Le Roux Malan, and Cliven Loubser all set to start here.
Divan Rossouw had very little impact as a playmaker from fullback in the last match and will move to the flank for this match, with Loubser stepping into the number 15 jersey.
New Zealand starting lineup: 15. Beauden Barrett, 14. Caleb Clarke, 13. Anton Lienert-Brown, 12. David Havili, 11. Leicester Fainga'anuku, 10. Damian McKenzie, 9. Cam Roigard, 8. Ardie Savea (c), 7. Dalton Papali'i, 6. Luke Jacobson, 5. Samuel Whitelock, 4. Brodie Retallick, 3. Nepo Laulala, 2. Samisoni Taukei'aho, 1. Ofa Tuungafasi
Replacements: 16. Dane Coles, 17. Ethan de Groot, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Scott Barrett, 20. Tupou Vaa'i, 21. Aaron Smith, 22. Richie Mo'unga, 23. Rieko Ioane
Namibia starting lineup: 15. Cliven Loubser, 14. Gerswin Mouton, 13. Johan Deysel (c), 12. Le Roux Malan, 11. Divan Rossouw, 10. Tiaan Swanepoel, 9. Damian Stevens; 8. Richard Hardwick, 7. Prince Gaoseb, 6. Wian Conradie, 5. Tjiuee Uanivi, 4. Johan Retief, 3. Johan Coetzee, 2. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1. Jason Benade
Replacements: Reserves: 16. Louis van der Westhuizen, 17. Desiderius Sethie, 18. Haitembu Shifuka, 19. PJ van Lill, 20. Adriaan Booysen, 21. Max Katjijeko, 22. Jacques Theron, 23. JC Greyling
Head To Head
Namibia have faced the All Blacks on two previous occasions at the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks won both matches, with the first ending in a 58-14 victory in 2015, while the second was a 71-9 battering in 2019.
We say: New Zealand 78-8 Namibia
Despite the setback last week, the All Blacks are still strong favourites to qualify from this pool, and they will be looking to get back on track with a big result here. The question is, by how many points will they win?
A victory for Namibia would go down as possibly the biggest upset in RWC history, and we cannot see that happening. We fancy the three-time champions to win by around a 70-point margin.
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