Lynn McConnell in Wellington
New Zealand might be greener than South Africa, the Rugby World Cup champions, but All Blacks backs coach Wayne Smith said the side is determined to retain its Tri Nations crown and its unbeaten home run of 29 Tests for the Tri Nations opener on Saturday.
Admitting that little ever changed in contests between the two sides, Smith said that any win over South Africa stemmed from being able to compete up front.
"They're not the sort of team you can lose the forward battle to and beat," he said.
"They are always tough - I've been involved since 1998 in different capacities and I can't remember one easy Test match. I can't remember any easy ones against Australia either."
The side put pressure on itself to maintain its record of success.
Smith said the players had suffered a lot of bruising from the England series which, despite the wide margins, had been tough physically on the players.
"It takes a wee while to recover from that but they have all recovered," he said.
Given the new look to the All Blacks team he said the selectors were looking for attitude and enthusiasm to overcome the experience gap.
The Test was going to be tough for its physicality and its intensity and it was an experience the newer players had to go through and adapt to.
"We've had quite an intense week, but I am sure the first few minutes are going to really tell on some players and we are going to have to adjust quickly," he said.
"If you look at them [South Africa] on paper, they have fewer changes and are pretty strong, very strong. We've had a lot of changes and are a bit greener but, as I said, attitude makes up for a lot of things and we are really happy with the attitude of the boys."
Smith believed that changes in the South African management should see a change in game style with the Springboks looking to move the ball around more.
"Against Wales they were more expansive so I expect that will carry on. He [Peter de Villiers] seemed to be that sort of coach which will be good for the game. I think the ELVs will help that.
"They give more momentum to the game. There's some messy areas still in some of the rules but in general I think they have improved the game, the continuity, and they keep the game going," he said.
Smith added that despite three first-up wins the selectors were still suffering from the pressure of expectation resulting from the World Cup fall out.
"There's been a hell of a lot of pressure, we still feel that, we always feel that.
"But it's been heightened by the glare of the spotlights and it hasn't receded.
"You've just got to earn your respect week after week and you can't earn it one week and expect it the next week. You just have to keep doing the hard yards and earn it again," he said.
Meanwhile, several members of the All Blacks team took advantage of some spare time on Thursday to visit the Weta Studios in Wellington, the location for much of the production of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.