With the series locked at 1-1, Rennie has made measured rather than dramatic changes for the Soweto decider. The most eyebrow-raising call is Holland dropping to the bench, with Darry coming in alongside Vaa'i — the piece reads that as a fatigue management move ahead of the Baltimore finale rather than a form-based demotion, given Holland was outstanding in Cape Town. Lakai starts at blindside ahead of the axed Parker, completing an All Blacks back-row that has now genuinely started together before. The analysis frames Rennie's consistent selection of the Roigard–Love axis and the Barrett–Tupaea centre pairing as deliberate combination-building — contrasting with the kind of rotation that disrupts cohesion.
The sharper critique is aimed at the bench: after Kieran Read publicly called for a 6-2 split, Rennie has stayed conservative with 5-3. The piece argues this was a genuine missed opportunity — particularly with Blackadder in strong midweek form — given how effectively the Boks have historically weaponised a forward-heavy bench in the closing stages. Set-piece also looms large: Aumua's promotion is partly a lineout fix after Taylor's accuracy issues in Cape Town, but he carries his own lineout reliability questions from the same match. Whether the personnel reshuffle actually solves the scrum-and-lineout deficit against the world champions is the central concern going into Saturday.