Boks name injured Du Plessis to face All Blacks

Prop Jannie du Plessis has been included in the South African team to play the rampant All Blacks in Dunedin on Saturday despite struggling with a hamstring injury. Coach Heyneke Meyer has made just two changes to the side that lost to Australia last weekend, with Flip van der Merwe coming in for suspended lock Eben Etzebeth and Francois Louw replacing Marcell Coetzee on the flank. “New Zealand are best in contesting at the breakdown. We decided to go with Flo (Louw) because he’s a specialist. It’s a horses for courses approach,” Meyer said. “Marcell has been very good this season and has played a lot of rugby but in this match we feel he will be more useful as an impact option.” Meyer is confident Du Plessis, who has until Friday to prove his fitness, will take the field. The Springboks are limited in the props they can call on with Pat Cilliers suffering from an elbow strain. Dean Greyling has been named on the bench but is a preferred loosehead. “If Dean comes on it will be a huge, huge test, especially against the best loosehead (Tony Woodcock) in world rugby. But Dean has impact and he’s fresh,” said Meyer.  The 20-year-old Etzebeth was suspended for two weeks for headbutting Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe during the Springboks’ 26-19 defeat but Meyer said the experience of 17-Test van der Merwe would be important against the world champion All Blacks. “Even having an experienced pack is a tough challenge against the All Blacks but we are excited,” he said. “I know people don’t give us a chance but I believe this team is growing. They will have to step up. I have confidence in the pack.”  The All Blacks lead the Rugby Championship with 12 points after three wins while South Africa are second on seven points followed by Australia (four points) and Argentina (two). The New Zealand team will be named today. South Africa (15-1): Zane Kirchner, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers , Frans Steyn, Francois Hougaard, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Francois Louw, Juandre Kruger, Flip van der Merwe, Jannie du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Tendai Mtawarira.   Reserves: Tiaan Liebenberg, Dean Greyling, Andries Bekker, Marcell Coetzee, Johan Goosen, Juan de Jongh, Patrick Lambie. BT beats Sky to rugby deal in UK sports expansion London: Britain’s BT Group Plc has snatched the broadcast rights for English Premiership rugby from BSkyB with a 152mn pound ($244mn) four-year contract that continues a recent spending spree to boost its Internet TV offering. The telecoms group is seeking to use live action to increase take-up of BT Vision, which has 728,000 subscribers. In June it agreed to share Premier League soccer games with BSkyB from next year in a three-year deal costing the two companies 3bn pounds. BT said that it would show up to 69 Aviva Premiership Rugby matches and the JP Morgan Asset Management Sevens from the 2013/14 season. It will also show matches played by premiership clubs in European competitions for three years from 2014/15. European club rugby is likely to be restructured from 2014. The live Aviva Premiership rights are currently split between satellite broadcaster BSkyB and Disney’s ESPN. BSkyB has been broadcasting games since 1994. Marc Watson, chief executive of BT Vision, said that rugby union was entering a thrilling phase, with the World Cup being staged in Britain in 2015 and rugby returning to the Olympics in 2016. “We will also be bringing all of the action together in one place and will look to distribute it on a variety of platforms,” he said. Shares in BT were up 2% at 231.5 pence at 1310 GMT, while BSkyB was down 0.7% at 752.5 pence. From gulf times.