All Blacks in desperate need of improvement against South Africa's weakest URC side

Match News and Current Form

It had not been initially revealed whether or not Ma’a Nonu would take to the pitch when he signed a short-term deal to join the Durban Sharks from French Top 14 club RC Toulon in a leadership and mentorship capacity, but the opportunity to take on his own national team was too tempting to pass up. Named at number 23 on the bench, it could well be that Nonu plays a ten-minute cameo to spice up the end of a one-sided procession, but his surprise selection at age 44 has nonetheless already revived a tour match that was struggling for energy in the mire of unaffordable ticket prices, the European club off-season impacting player availability, and the Sharks’ own meagre performances.

The Sharks were by far the worst of the four South African franchises in the 2025/26 United Rugby Championship (URC), finishing with eight wins from 18 games as the only ones to miss the postseason. They finished off the season in a disappointing manner, winning just two of their last four URC games despite playing fellow non-finalists in each such as Ospreys (L 21-17 away) and Edinburgh (L 33-28 away). John Plumtree’s side were much stronger at home, however, winning nine out of 11 competitive European games in Durban this season, this very inexperienced Sharks backline should at least be feeling at their best at Kings Park. 

All of the media goodwill that came from the All Blacks’ Nations Championship clean sweep in July quickly evaporated when they were made to work hard for a sloppy 38-21 win over the Stormers. One newspaper writer (The Herald’s Paul Gregor) even went as far as to say that a repeat such a performance from the All Blacks, in which they “filled the bingo card of all the things that teams can’t afford to get wrong in South Africa”, would not see them remotely competitive against the world champion Springboks later this month.

It’s fair to say that they had taken a step back from July during the Stormers game, in which they were outmuscled at the set piece by an opposition missing their headline players, and their forward pack certainly didn’t get their way as they probably would have expected. Head coach Dave Rennie forecasted a physical challenge from the Stormers the day prior, but there would be no excuses for the handling errors that stopped any chance of establishing momentum with ball in hand. As was anticipated for a midweek game just a few days later, Rennie has made 15 changes, including elevating the quartet of Asafo Aumua, Sam Darry, Kyle Preston and Caleb Clarke  from the bench to the run-on XV.

Head-to-Head History

This will be the inaugural head-to-head meeting. 

Hot Stats and Streaks

Four of the Sharks’ last five URC losses were by a 1-12 point margin.

The second half was the highest scoring half in six of Sharks’ last eight European matches.

New Zealand covered the spread in only one of four games this year. 

The second half was the highest scoring half in three of New Zealand’s four matches in 2026.

Key Players to Watch and Missing Players

Sharks Jurenzo Julius dazzled against Benetton at the back-end of the season with a hat-trick in a 46-7 rout of the Italians. After his Hurricanes teammate Josh Moorby turned club form into international tries at the weekend, it’s Fehi Fineanganofo’s turn to convert his record-breaking 17 Super Rugby tries in 2026 into a maiden international try in his second appearance.

Sharks are missing the injured Ox Nche as well as their Springboks representatives such as Edwill van der Merwe, Ethan Hooker, Andre Esterhuizen, Thomas du Toit and Eben Etzebeth. There are no other new forced absences for New Zealand other than Billy Proctor.

Click here to view the matchday squads for both teams.

Betting Analysis

New Zealand are facing a very large handicap against a side that performs well at home, so we’re expecting Sharks to cover +38.5 points. 

Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.