adminDURBAN. — South Africa and New Zealand clash today in a Rugby Championship dead rubber, but the pursuit of team and individual records should ensure an uncompromising struggle for supremacy.
The Test will be played three days after All Blacks scrum-half Aaron Smith was suspended, then sent home over a Christchurch airport toilet tryst last month with a mystery woman.
Tearful Smith quit Durban on Thursday having admitted he had made a “huge mistake”, and his absence allows TJ Perenara, who started in a win over Argentina last weekend, to retain his place. “I’ve made a huge mistake, a huge error in judgment,” admitted Smith as he left the reigning world champions.
A victory for New Zealand at Kings Park stadium in the Indian Ocean port will equal the top-tier nations’ world record of 17 consecutive wins. The All Blacks created the benchmark in 1969 and matched it in 2014, with South Africa equalling the feat in between. — AFP.
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