The Sharks Patrick Lambie confirms he's signed for Ulster on one of his 13 Twitter accounts!
Ulster will have two players on show in Wellington on Saturday morning (and quite possibly a third 
) when New Zealand and South Africa clash for the 83rd time. Ruan Pienaar starts at scrum half for the Boks and Ulster’s new signing John Afoa should be making an appearance from the bench for the Blacks.
However it is Leinster stalward Alain Rowland who will more than likely have the biggest say on match proceedings as the high profile referee looks to put his marker down ahead of the World Cup finals. New Zealand will surely learn more about their world cup prospects from Mr Rowland than they will from the South African team as the IRB’s favourite ref spells out just how much of the All Blacks systematic “gamesmanship” is going to be allowed over the next few months. Should be worth heading round to the Eagle for 8:30 for that alone!
New Zealand should also be wary that the Boks were authors of much of thier misfortune against Australia and it is unlikely that they will be as sloppy two weeks in a row. There is also a little of the unknown, as Ulster’s next South African signing [FRU EXCLUSIVE - he told me on Twitter!], Patrick Lambie, plays at full back and, much like FRU favourite James O’Connor for Australia, the Sharks youngster breathes life and exhilaration into the Bok’s back line.
Whether Lambie will see the ball enough to cause problems is open to question but with most of this pack heading back to South Africa to put their feet up as the “A team” takes over for the rest of the Tri Nations I would guess that it’ll be a fairly physical opening onslaught from the Boks, and it could well go on for a bit longer than New Zealand are expecting.
After a shaky enough first half New Zealand should have enough experience on the park to play the ref and the Boks and the home side should pull out a win. It will be by less than 10 points though!
TEAMS:
New Zealand: (1-15) Wyatt Crockett, Andrew Hore, Ben Franks, Sam Whitelock, Ali Williams, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Adam Thomson, Jimmy Cowan, Daniel Carter, Zac Guildford, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Cory Jane, Mils Muliaina. (16-22) Corey Flynn, John Afoa, Jarrad Hoeata, Liam Messam, Piri Weepu, Colin Slade, Sonny Bill Williams.
South Africa: (1-15) Dean Greyling, John Smit, Werner Kruger, Gerhard Mostert, Alistair Hargreaves, Deon Stegmann, Jean Deysel, Danie Rossouw, Ruan Pienaar, Morne Steyn, Lwazi Mvovo, Juan de Jongh, Adi Jacobs, Bjorn Basson, Patrick Lambie. (16-22) Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Ryan Kankowski, Ashley Johnson, Charl McLeod, Wynand Olivier, Odwa Ndungane.
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