All Blacks vs South Africa

Our rugby writer's tackle all the big questions ahead of the first test.

The All Blacks haven't made the trip to South Africa since before the last World Cup and with South African teams no longer in Super Rugby, taking on the Springboks at altitude will be a completely new experience for many players in the All Blacks squad. South Africa will sniff the rare chance to face an All Blacks side low on confidence and will fully believe they can inflict further pain on their fiercest rivals. If they can shake off the outside noise and come together as a group, it will sort out a lot of New Zealand Rugby's headaches. The All Blacks have a huge test in front of them. They also kick more, and don't manipulate the defence nearly as much as Ireland did to the All Blacks. South African atmospheres are like nothing else but for those All Blacks who remain composed, playing in that environment can be inspirational too. Ireland outplayed and out-thought the All Blacks across their three-test series and were deserved winners. Of course, it's possible the All Blacks may lift their game and still lose one of the tests because of the enormity of the challenge of winning back-to-back tests in South Africa, but the mood of the rugby nation at present will only really be lifted by a clean sweep. Yes, they have the talent there to be able to do that, but it's not going to fly against elite opposition. But there are a lot of voices that should be being heard within that organisation rather than within the media and questions still to be asked about why that's not happening. A whitewash in the Republic would mean six losses in the last seven tests, a record no All Blacks head coach can possibly survive. There is an agreement in place to assess the All Blacks after their first five tests of this year so the 2-1 series defeat against Ireland will be factored into the equation, too. It's been just three weeks since the defeat in Wellington, so if Foster is able to oversee a 2-0 series win in South Africa, even his harshest critics will have to grudgingly admit he's got the ability to adapt, adjust and improve his side in super-quick time.