Eighty minutes is a long time in rugby - just ask Rassie Erasmus.
It's been a tough week in Wellington for the Springboks coach, whose struggling team must unearth a performance beyond what they've managed so far in the Rugby Championship if they're to topple the unbeaten All Blacks.
Erasmus even suggested his job could be on the line after last week's 23-18 loss to the Wallabies, although that was subsequently quashed by South African rugby bosses.
The skies will brighten almost instantaneously if they can notch a rare win on New Zealand soil.
It's something the Springboks have only achieved twice since their 1998 team, featuring Erasmus, prevailed 13-3 in Wellington.
"Everyone knows if you beat New Zealand in New Zealand you are back to where you want to be and your planning is probably on track and you can tell yourself, 'listen we are really contenders next year at the World Cup'," he said.
"You beat New Zealand in New Zealand and life's good."
The last meeting of the traditional rivals was 11 months ago in Cape Town, where the Malcolm Marx-inspired Springboks went down 25-24.
However, Erasmus doesn't take great heart from that fighting performance in a forward-dominated contest under predecessor Allister Coetzee.
He believes Saturday's match at Westpac Stadium will be determined by skill and accuracy.
"The way the All Blacks are currently playing, there's so much finesse in their game," he said.
"The small margins they get they really pounce and they score where we currently are creating opportunities and throw them out the window every single time."
The recall of hooker Marx and five-eighth Handre Pollard gives Erasmus a team he labels the best they've fielded so far in the Rugby Championship, where they sit level with the Wallabies and Pumas on one win from three.
"It's going to be an uphill battle against a team who is No 1 in the world who dictate almost every facet of the game," he said.
"I really think after this game we will know where we stand with South African rugby,."
