True to his word, All Blacks coach Ian Foster has named a near-full strength team to face South Africa in their final World Cup warm-up game at Twickenham.
With their tournament opener against France now two weeks away, Foster has stuck with the core that helped New Zealand to success in the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup campaign over the last two months - minus a couple of notable injuries.
The Crusaders second row of Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett will pack down as locks, with Brodie Retallick nursing a knee injury, while Luke Jacobson gets his chance at blindside flanker, as Shannon Frizell rests his niggly hamstring.
Veteran Dane Coles gets the start at hooker, with Samisoni Taukei'aho coming off the bench, with Codie Taylor also carrying an injury.
Locks Josh Lord and Tupou Vaa'i are both on the bench, suggesting Vaa'i may also act as cover at blindside flanker.
Fielding his guns in a meaningless fixture is something of a gamble by Foster, with other World Cup rivals reeling from injury and judicial setbacks in their final hitouts. England have lost captain Owen Farrell and No.8 Billy Vunipola to suspension for the start of their campaign.
France lost star first-five Romain Ntamack to injury against Scotland, but the NZ coach is adamant he wants his team carrying winning momentum into the tournament, after compiling an 11-game unbeaten run to this point.
"The gap between the last test and the France game is too big for us to use this game as a cotton-wool exercise,” said Foster. “Clearly, we’ve got 2-3 players we’re looking after from an injury perspective, but it’s a great test two weeks before a World Cup.
"The only way to go into this is full throttle. My heart is not in my mouth, it’s a test match.
"Some things are part of the game. If you go in half-hearted and worrying about the consequences, those things are almost guaranteed to happen."
All Blacks: 1-Ethan de Groot, 2-Dane Coles, 3-Tyrel Lomax, 4-Sam Whitelock, 5-Scott Barrett, 6-Luke Jacobson, 7-Sam Cane (c), 8-Ardie Savea, 9-Aaron Smith, 10- Richie Mo'unga, 11-Mark Telea, 12-Jordie Barrett, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Will Jordan, 15- Beauden Barrett
Reserves: 16-Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17-Tamaiti Williams, 18-Fletcher Newell, 19-Josh Lord, 20-Tupou Vaa'i, 21-Dalton Papali'i, 22-Cam Roigard, 23-Anton Lienert-Brown
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