All Blacks could bulk up back row

The All Blacks look likely to replenish their back row with the addition of loose forward Dalton Papali'i for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash against the Springboks at Cape Town Stadium.

Though not yet officially cleared, Papali'i who has recovered from a thumb injury looks likely to form part of the match-day 23 for the game New Zealand have to win to keep alive their prospects in this year's competition. Defeats to Argentina in Wellington and the Springboks in Johannesburg have left them on the back foot and on the brink of relinquishing the title they have held since 2020.

They may also have to let go of the Freedom Cup, which they have held since 2010.

Papali'i will be a welcome addition to New Zealand's back-row resources. Former captain Sam Cane did duty for the first time this year at Ellis Park and though the visitors were courageous in taking the game to the Springboks and defended like demons in the opening half, they lacked fire power at the back end of the game when the Bok bench made its presence felt.

The All Blacks deployed their replacements much later than the Boks, who sent the Bomb Squad into combat after 44 minutes. By the time the All Blacks summoned their cavalry they were stopped in their tracks as the momentum had already swung South Africa's way.

It did not help the visitors' cause when prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi was yellow-carded with 13 minutes remaining.

Last Saturday was the fourth time in a row the All Blacks failed to trouble the scorers in the last 20 minutes.

While Cane is a willing and able workhorse, the All Blacks could have done with the vigour and vitality Papali'i delivers as ball carrier and in the collisions. Cane, however, brings bucketloads of experience — a commodity the All Blacks no longer have in abundance.

If the All Blacks selectors are thinking of life beyond Cane, Papali'i is the next cab off the rank.

“He's tracking along pretty good,” said All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan about Papali'i's injury.

“Should be,” he added in relation to the player being available for Saturday's clash.

Earlier, Ryan's colleague Scott Hansen raised the possibility of Papali'i being restored to fitness.

“He is going through the medical procedure. We have had positive reports so he is likely to be available for selection, to be confirmed,” Hansen said.

While the All Blacks will target greater output across the 80 minutes in Cape Town, they will this week also deep-dive into the reasons their discipline, or lack thereof, helped trip them up at Ellis Park. Losing the penalty count 14 to five suggests the All Blacks operated under huge pressure but they will look at ways to mitigate the body blows inflicted by the referee's raised arm.

They missed 27 tackles to South Africa's 17, another sign of the strain they were under without the ball.

“We put ourselves under a bit of pressure with discipline, against a team like South Africa who will put you under pressure at the set piece, which they did,” said flyhalf Damian McKenzie.

“We need to be a bit more accurate in the second half. It's there, it's not too far away.”

He admitted they need to be more street smart on the deck. “It's those 50/50 ones where you want to have a crack but you can't. It's about pushing the boundaries but not too far.”