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Johannesburg - The All Blacks have not lost a match in two years, but Springbok captain Jean de Villiers believes his side can beat the world champions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
"For confidence it will be really good, but I truly believe that we are good enough to beat them," De Villiers said on Friday.
"For us going forward we need to get over that sort of barrier. It is easier said than done, but we believe we can do it.
"In the past we came close and we didn't get the result, but at some stage that is going to change."
While England can lay claim to victory against the All Blacks in 2012, the Springboks have not beaten their old foes since 2011. They have come agonisingly close in the past two years.
De Villiers said the Springboks have made serious improvements since the start of the Rugby Championship which have bolstered their chances of beating the All Blacks at Ellis Park.
"We definitely played a lot better in the last game compared to the way we started against Argentina," he said.
"I thought that against Australia and New Zealand away, we played some good rugby at times and we just didn't get the results."
The corresponding fixture at the same venue last year was a title-decider, with the Boks needing a bonus-point try victory while denying the All Blacks a bonus point.
It turned into a nine-try thriller, with South Africa losing the battle to see New Zealand lift the trophy.
This time the All Blacks have already wrapped up the title. The Boks will instead look to finally get the monkey of beating the number-one side in the world off their backs.
"It will be very different and it is the way we adapt to the conditions, remembering last year and the way both teams played. It was a high-scoring game with a lot of running," De Villiers said.
"The guys were pretty tired after the 80 minutes. It will be a fantastic battle against them. Those are the games we definitely look forward to and we can test ourselves against the best tomorrow.
"I think we are well-prepared and it is just putting everything together tomorrow... that is what it is all about and what we are trying to do."
