“We are starting at home, it is important to win your home games if you want to do well in the Tri-Nations, so it is crucial that we get off to a successful start and play well from the outset,” said Matfield.

He could well have added the rejoinder “for it will be a long Tri-Nations for us otherwise”. That is a fact, for if the Boks don’t win this weekend, when everything is loaded against them, it will be a tough road ahead for them.

The Boks need a convincing performance to boost confidence and get momentum up, as well as get the country in behind them. The series against the British and Irish Lions may have been won, but not well enough to halt the perception that the Bok performances may be sliding, something that could be playing a role in the reluctance of fans to buy tickets to watch their matches.

The Boks, as the marketing people keep pointing out, are the most decorated Bok team in history, having followed up their 2007 World Cup success by managing what their 1995 predecessors failed to do by beating the Lions. There are also several players in their group who now have two Super 14 winners medals.

In reuniting Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie in midfield, coach Peter de Villiers has ensured that his team bears an even closer resemblance now to the side that won the World Cup in France two years ago than it did in the series against the Lions.

While the Boks have the settled team and also the more experienced players, the All Blacks, like the Wallabies are by their own admission a work in progress. Stephen Donald played one of his best games for his country in helping beat Australia last week, but he is no Dan Carter, and Brendon Leonard, his halfback partner is inexperienced.

Isaac Ross, the new All Black lock partner for Brad Thorn, is highly promising, but for all his mobility and athleticism, he appears to lack the physicality the All Black second row might need against the world rated combination of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield.

Couple all of this with the fact that the All Blacks had to fly out of Auckland just nine hours after beating the Wallabies and spent much of the early part of the week travelling, and Bloemfontein’s position at altitude, and you can see why the dice is loaded against the visitors.

If ever the Boks should be expected to win against their old rivals, it is in this match, and it is tempting to use the same reasoning to make them favourites that we used when we previewed the Super 14 semifinals and final -- they have the bulk of the special players.

But the Boks are not the Bulls, we saw that in the Lions series. Outside of the lineouts, there was no area where the Boks were consistently outstanding in the games against the Home Union composite side, and the debate about who deserved to win that series will probably rage for the next 12 years.

A significant lift in performance is going to be needed then on Saturday if the Boks are going to respond to the massive pressure being placed on them by delivering the win that should be expected of a team of their quality.

There are also several questions that are still hovering that need to be answered positively, particularly those related to the consistency of Ruan Pienaar as an international flyhalf, the loss of physicality, particularly on defence in the inside channels, entailed by the absence of Schalk Burger, and the progress as a tighthead of John Smit.

The All Blacks were rusty last week against the Wallabies but they still won and you could almost see that rust falling off them during the course of the match. Their coach predicted that they will improve more this week, and if they do, the Boks are going to have to tick the performance boxes they failed to tick against the Lions if they are to prevail.

Teams

South Africa: Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen, Jaques Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Ruan Pienaar, Fourie du Preez, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Heinrich Brussow, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, John Smit (captain), Bismarck du Plessis, Beast Mtwarira.

Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Jannie du Plessis, Danie Rossouw, Ryan Kankowski, Ricky Januarie, Morne Steyn, Wynand Olivier.

New Zealand: Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Stephen Donald, Brendon Leonard, Rodney So’oialo, Richie McCaw (captain), Jerome Kaino, Isaac Ross, Brad Thorn, Neemia Tialata, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.

Reserves: Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Jason Eaton, Kieran Read, Piri Weepu, Luke McAlister, Cory Jane.

Kick-off: 5pm Prediction: Boks to win, for they are at home and just have to be the more desperate team at the moment.

Source:  supersport.co.za