Mark Priest was included in the tour party during the Mandela Trophy matches after having flown in as a replacement for the injured Matthew Hart who had broken a finger. Danny Morrison, who was originally not available for selection due to injury, joined the tour in its later stages as a replacement for Dion Nash who had suffered a side injury. Morrison played in the final three matches, including the second and third Tests. With the addition of Crowe, who was already in South Africa rehabilitating from a knee injury, Lee Germon and Murphy Su'a, the Test team was the same side which had played in the Wills World Series immediately before the tour. The party included two uncapped players: Darrin Murray made his Test debut in the first Test of the series, having played in one of the ODIs in India, while Lee Germon made his ODI debut during the Mandela Trophy matches. Influential all-rounder Chris Cairns, who went on to play over 250 international matches, missed the tour with an injury. The tour party was considered to be fairly weak due injuries and a lack of depth in talent in New Zealand cricket at the time. Speaking in 2017, Rutherford was of the opinion that "there was [no one] we left back home who deserved to play." The South African team was captained by Hansie Cronje in his first series as captain, having replaced Kepler Wessels following the team's failure to win a match in the 1994–95 Wills Triangular Series in Pakistan. Wessels resigned the captaincy in November before the first Test match to focus on his own batting performances but a "recurring" knee injury led to his retirement from international cricket in December without him playing a match during the tour. The first Test match in the series was played in late November after a series of warm-up matches. The second and third Tests were played between 26 December and 6 January after the Mandela Trophy ODI series. South Africa were without their leading fast bowler Allan Donald throughout the series due to injury. Donald had played in every Test match since the reintegration of South Africa into international cricket in 1992. This and the absence of former captain Kepler Wessels, also through injury, left wicket-keeper Dave Richardson as the only player to have played in each Test since reintegration. Richardson, who was the leading run scorer of the series, was named the player of the series. The first Test was played at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. New Zealander Darrin Murray made his Test debut in the match.