All Blacks coach Ian Foster changed his lock combination again with Brodie Retallick restored to the lineup and Sam Whitelock returning to the list of replacements in the only change to the starting team.
New Zealand believe the 35-year-old Whitelock, playing his third World Cup final, is most effective coming off the bench, and could bring an injection of energy at a time when South Africa are refreshing their forwards.
Six of New Zealand's matchday squad for the game are previous World Cup winners and the 23-man team has a collective total of 1,387 caps, making it the most experienced All Blacks squad for any of their record five World Cup finals appearances.
"We've woken up this week to find ourselves in a World Cup final and we've worked to deal with all the distractions.
They (South Africa) are great at their style, we want to be great at ours," added Foster.
Persons:
Zealand's Brodie Retallick, Paul Childs, Ian Foster, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Whitelock, Retallick, Scott Barrett, Barrett, Nepo Lualua, Fletcher Newell, Foster, Sam Cane, We've, we've, Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Mark Telea, Richie Mo’unga, Aaron Smith, Shannon Frizell, Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Tamaiti Williams, Nepo Laulala, Dalton Papalii, Finlay Christie, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert, Mark Gleeson, Ken Ferris
Organizations:
Rugby Union, Rugby, Groupama, REUTERS, Blacks, Kiwis, Saturday’s Rugby, South, Springboks, Ireland, Argentina, New, Foster . New Zealand, Brown, Thomson
Locations:
Zealand, Italy, Lyon, France, South Africa, MALMAISON, Foster . New