Cape Town - All Blacks coach Steve Hansen will not disparage the Springboks, despite his side bullying them in recent times.
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The All Blacks have won their last three games against their old rivals in convincing fashion - 41-13 in Christchurch, 57-15 in Durban and 57-0 in Albany.
That’s a combined scoreline of 155-28 but Hansen does not feel the Springboks were as poor as the scorelines suggested in those games.
The New Zealand coach was speaking after naming his side for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test at Newlands.
"We've said that after each game (that) I don't think the scoreboard actually reflects what's happened on the park. We've had to work really hard,” Hansen was quoted as saying on the Stuff.co.nz website.
“We know we’ll be playing a proud Springbok side which will be determined to rectify what happened in Albany.”
According to Hansen his squad has settled well in Cape Town this week after a trip from Argentina where they beat Los Pumas last weekend.
“Our preparation has been different because of the need to recover well from all the travel. This has meant that there’s been less time on the park and an even greater emphasis than normal on the mental side of our preparation. As always, getting real clarity of our roles and how we want to play has been key," he told the All Blacks' official website.
Saturday’s Test kicks off at 17:05.
Teams:
South Africa
TBA
New Zealand
15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Kane Hames
Substitutes: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Matt Todd, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 David Havili