The building of a new All Black team reaches its next stage tonight in Cape Town, where Tri-Nations rugby title ambitions will also go on the line.
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After their impressively constructed 39-10 defeat of Australia at Eden Park two weeks ago, the New Zealanders want to ensure their standards don’t drop against South Africa.
It is a task All Black assistant coach Wayne Smith accepts won’t be easy.
“It’s a challenge to us to reach the level that we reached in Auckland and maybe even surpass it,” Smith said.
“That’s what great teams do, consistently reach that level. We don’t doubt that this team has got the heart to do it, but it’s a big challenge — to take that intensity and level offshore and put it to work at Newlands.”
New Zealand will field eight players playing a Test for the first time in South Africa — winger Richard Kahui, centre Conrad Smith,inside centre Ma’a Nonu and flanker Jerome Kaino.
Four of the reserves are in line to do the same — prop John Afoa, lock Anthony Boric, flanker Adam Thompson and five five-eighth Stephen Donald.
What the All Blacks do have in their favour is a more experienced pack, especially in the engine room.
The New Zealand front row of Tony Woodcock, Andrew Hore and Greg Somerville have more than double the total number of caps as Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis and CJ van der Linde.
Still, there are personal milestones to help to spur the Springboks on.
The home side will be led out by fullback Percy Montgomery, who will become the first South African to gain 100 Test caps.
Skipper Victor Matfield, who will pick up his 75th cap, will equal Mark Andrews’ record for most Tests as a Springbok lock.
Historically, tests between New Zealand and South Africa at Newlands have been uncompromising wars of attrition, with few tries being scored.
New Zealand and South Africa have shared their two previous Tri-Nations Test this year, the All Blacks winning in Wellington and the Springbok bouncing back to snatch a late victory in Dunedin.
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