South Africa captain Pieter-Steph du Toit believes the Springboks will have to be switched on at all times today to avoid being caught napping by an All Blacks team that likes to up the tempo.

“We know New Zealand are going to bring it with intensity,” Du Toit said.

“We really believe the line outs and the scrum are going to be something where we're going to have to perform well. They're going to try and test us, finding gaps if we switch off. We know they're quite fast ⁠and have very skilful players. They're definitely going to try and exploit this and ​come ⁠up with good plans as well.So I would say we have to be alert at all times and don't get caught out.”

Ardie Savea returns to lead New Zealand having been rested from the tour matches. Ruben Love is again trusted at No 10 with no place for either Beauden Barrett or Richie Mo’unga in the 23, and all of Will Jordan, Damian McKenzie and Cam Roigard shake off injury fears to start.

There are five forwards on the bench as flankers Simon Parker and Peter Lakai both earn inclusion with Tupou Vaa’i covering lock from the back row.

New Zealand XV: 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax; 4 Josh Lord, 5 Fabian Holland; 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 7 Luke Jacobson, 8 Ardie Savea (capt.); 9 Cam Roigard, 10 Ruben Love; 11 Josh Moorby, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 14 Will Jordan; 15 Damian McKenzie.

Repacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Simon Parker, 20 Peter Lakai; 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Leroy Carter.

Siya Kolisi is left out by the Springboks, with Paul de Villiers preferred on the openside as South Africa take a cautious approach with their captain. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu gets the nod at fly half, while Damian de Allende earns his 100th cap in a familiar midfield pairing with Jesse Kriel.

There are five specialist forwards on the bench, plus Andre Esterhuizen – who will cover both the back row and his usual centre slot, as he did last year.

South Africa XV: 1 Ox Nche, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Wilco Louw; 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Ruan Nortje; 6 Paul de Villiers, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (capt.), 8 Jasper Wiese; 9 Grant Williams, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Cheslin Kolbe; 15 Damian Willemse.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Marco van Staden; 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.

The most recent meeting between South Africa and New Zealand was memorable, too, as the Springboks dealt a record drubbing to their hosts in Wellington – which eventually, really, led to the axing of Scott Robertson as head coach.

Overall, it’s 63-43 in the All Blacks favour in the long history of this fixture, with four draws thrown in for good measure.

Ellis Park is a fitting opening venue for this Test series, with memories of 1995 – Mandela, Pienaar, Lomu and the rest – sure to come flooding back. Ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, Luke Baker looked back on perhaps the most significant day in rugby history.

Need a reminder of the full itinerary for this landmark tour? Our catch-all explainer has you covered ahead of four huge weeks:

This is the start of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series proper, with the landmark new reciprocal touring agreement between these two nations coming at an intriguing time for South Africa, New Zealand and rugby generally:

Plenty to go at in the two sides, with each selection instructive over how each team may wish to play. Here are five figures who could define this first Test:

New Zealand, meanwhile, are bolstered by their captain as Ardie Savea returns from a rest to lead the All Blacks.

Rassie Erasmus delayed the naming of his Springboks team until Thursday, atypically late for the South Africa head coach – but there was still some major news: