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Auckland - All Black captain, Richie McCaw, says the hat-trick of defeats to South Africa in Bloemfontein, Durban and Hamilton in last year’s Tri-Nations has not been forgotten.
His believes his team needs no motivation to turn the tables in Saturday’s crucial Tri-Nations encounter at Eden Park.
"I guess there's a bit of a memory of last year," he said at the team hotel in Auckland on Wednesday.
"We lost three in a row and the guys are pretty keen to get stuck in again. It's been a while since we've had a crack and a while to think about it."
But McCaw cautioned against getting too wrapped up in what had happened in the past and being distracted from doing the proper preparation.
"But certainly from my point of view, I've been looking forward to it for a while."
He believes the All Blacks have the advantage of kicking off the Tri-Nations with two home Tests, just like the Springboks had last year.
If they are able to secure victory in both home Tests it would have a significant bearing on their hopes of regaining the title.
"Getting two wins under your belt, sets you up fairly well for the last four," he said.
"If you start off with losing two, no matter whether you're at home or whatever, it makes it pretty tough, which we found out last year."
New Zealand are current the IRB's top-ranked team - on 91.68 points with the South Africans (on 89.46 points) in second place.
A win for the Boks, will see them overtake the Kiwis on the rankings.
However assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith says that none of the All Blacks believed the IRB rankings were accurate given the dominance that the Springboks had over them last season.
"We lost 0-3 last year," Smith said.
"We're rated No.1 in the world by the IRB, but we don't believe we are. If we want to be, we have to start by consistently beating the Boks," he added.
Auckland - All Black captain, Richie McCaw, says the hat-trick of defeats to South Africa in Bloemfontein, Durban and Hamilton in last year’s Tri-Nations has not been forgotten.
His believes his team needs no motivation to turn the tables in Saturday’s crucial Tri-Nations encounter at Eden Park.
"I guess there's a bit of a memory of last year," he said at the team hotel in Auckland on Wednesday.
"We lost three in a row and the guys are pretty keen to get stuck in again. It's been a while since we've had a crack and a while to think about it."
But McCaw cautioned against getting too wrapped up in what had happened in the past and being distracted from doing the proper preparation.
"But certainly from my point of view, I've been looking forward to it for a while."
He believes the All Blacks have the advantage of kicking off the Tri-Nations with two home Tests, just like the Springboks had last year.
If they are able to secure victory in both home Tests it would have a significant bearing on their hopes of regaining the title.
"Getting two wins under your belt, sets you up fairly well for the last four," he said.
"If you start off with losing two, no matter whether you're at home or whatever, it makes it pretty tough, which we found out last year."
New Zealand are current the IRB's top-ranked team - on 91.68 points with the South Africans (on 89.46 points) in second place.
A win for the Boks, will see them overtake the Kiwis on the rankings.
However assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith says that none of the All Blacks believed the IRB rankings were accurate given the dominance that the Springboks had over them last season.
"We lost 0-3 last year," Smith said.
"We're rated No.1 in the world by the IRB, but we don't believe we are. If we want to be, we have to start by consistently beating the Boks," he added.
