Boks to hit All Blacks with all they’ve got

they still endured further nightmares.

Having not lost a game this year, Etzebeth said they were in a better frame of mind, even though the All Blacks are still a dangerous team.

“I do think the guys will be ready and we’ll be looking forward to the game. We have to be at our best to make sure we do well on Saturday [tod said Etzebeth.

“It took us a couple of months to recover from that loss and it really hurt. It wasn’t about the defeat against the All Blacks, it was about the whole year, but we’ve put that behind us and we were looking forward to this year and this year has gone well. The game is going to be our biggest challenge of the year.”

The stability the Boks have maintained has been crucial for them in a time when the wheels could have come off in a bad way.

The Boks had one headache to deal with yesterday and that was the withdrawal of Ross Cronje from the matchday 23 due to a stomach bug. Francois Hougaard will get another start while Rudy Paige moves to the bench. The All Blacks’ unbeaten home record against the Boks doesn’t worry Etzebeth.

“Once you jog onto the field, whatever records you may have had disappear from your head. You’re not looking to break records. You want to win the Test match. I know they want to win the Test match and so do we. Records don’t count for much.”