It has been a while since the All Blacks faced the Springboks in Durban‚ and few can forget the dominance the Boks showed back then.
Fast-forward seven years since that 2009 meeting when Morné Steyn put in a stellar performance‚ collecting all the points for the Boks for the 31-19 win against the Kiwis.
The All Blacks may look an invincible side at the moment as they aim to chase a Bok and two other New Zealand teams’ record of 17 wins on the trot‚ but there is a less spoken belief that the Boks may hold the ever-so-slight psychological advantage because of the Kiwi’s last visit to KwaZulu-Natal.
The Boks though will not let that piece of history get their hopes up before the opening whistle at King’s Park today.
“We can’t rely on what happened in the past‚” Bok prop Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira‚ who played in that game‚ pointed out.
“It’s a new challenge now‚ a new All Blacks side. I think Jerome Kaino is the only guy surviving from that team.
“This is a new era now‚ we’re not concentrating on what happened then. We want to focus on what happens now.
“We’ll have to be smart; preparations this week have gone well. It’s been a great week so far. Saturday is a totally different context compared to then.”
Another man who will rather put the past behind him is Mtawarira’s prop partner Vincent Koch.
The tighthead made his Test debut against the Kiwis last year at Ellis Park‚ but his first outing in the green and gold was spoilt by a rib injury he sustained in that game.
On Saturday the burly prop will play his seventh Test and will hope to make more of an impact in a game that could be swayed by how the two packs fare in the set pieces.
“That game was my debut‚” Koch said recollecting his first encounter against the New Zealanders.
“The Springboks played well that day. For me‚ unfortunately‚ I got a rib injury in that game.
“It’s all done now and the whole pack‚ the whole team‚ is looking fresh at the moment.
“As a player‚ I have grown a lot since then. A whole year has passed where I’ve played another Super Rugby season for the Stormers and more Tests this year. So I’m a whole lot more experienced. Going into this game‚ I’m looking forward to it.”