Losing the first game of a series is not necessarily new for the Springboks, who fought back from 1-0 down to beat the British and Irish Lions in 2021, and also lost their World Cup opener against New Zealand in 2019 before going on to lift the trophy.

“It’s important. All the games are. The nice thing is most of us have been in this position before in the British & Irish Lions Series and in the Rugby World Cup, so we know how to handle things on and off the field,” Siya Kolisi said ahead of the second Test.

“But the most significant aspect now is actually on the field. We need to play and execute our game plan well. When we watched last week’s game, we saw the opportunities we missed, and if we had converted those, things might have been very different. That said, experience means nothing if you don’t learn from the mistakes you made the week before.”

New Zealand are forced into two tight five changes after Ethan de Groot and Josh Lord suffered head injuries in the first Test. George Bower steps in for the former having impressed at loosehead off the bench, while Tupou Vaa’i slides a row forward from blindside to lock as Fabian Holland’s partner.

Simon Parker is therefore brought in on the flank, while Leroy Carter is preferred to Josh Moorby on the left wing.

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

Repacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai; 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby.

Siya Kolisi returns to captain the Springboks having been left out of the first Test squad, while Handre Pollard had originally been named at fly half before suffering a niggle in training. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu therefore retains the No 10 shirt, with Cheslin Kolbe also brought in to the starting side on Friday at Kurt-Lee Arendse’s expense.

The 39-year-old Deon Fourie is primed for his first international appearance since the 2023 World Cup final after being named as hooking cover for Malcolm Marx.

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

Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom; 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Manie Libbok.

There will be a few All Blacks fans in Cape Town today, you’d think, both over from New Zealand and due to a piece of the rich history between these two rivals. You can find out more about past meetings between the pair here:

This is Test two of four mighty meetings between these two, with all of the other tour action now out of the way. Here’s a reminder of the full Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry itinerary.

Dave Rennie’s comments prompted a response from Thomas du Toit, who is set to feature off the bench for South Africa today.

“I can’t really make any comments on what Dave Rennie has spoken to World Rugby about, but we try and stay within the laws of the game as much as we can and as much as we perceive it,” Du Toit said.

“There are always two sides to the coin. One person sees one thing, one person sees another thing. So one person’s walking around as the other person’s straight. Something happens on the other side of the scrum as well.

“The ref can only blow what he sees in front of him. So much credit has to go to the referees and the way that they see these things. They try and see everything and it must be so difficult to get that part right.”

New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie has revealed that he has raised concerns over South Africa’s scrummaging tactics ahead of the second Test between the two teams in Cape Town.

The tourists were largely on the back foot throughout, though did win a pivotal penalty at a second-half scrum in the shadow of their own posts to help turn momentum with the hosts penalised for failing to drive straight.

And Rennie has spoken to the match officials about South Africa’s scrum set-up as he seeks improvements from his side.

The team named on Monday will not be the one that takes the field today, mind. Handre Pollard picked up a niggle in training on Wednesday and has been ruled out for South Africa, but there was the opposite news on Cheslin Kolbe, fit to feature having originally been left out.

South Africa’s reaction to a first defeat in 12 matches was to name their side for the second Test as soon as possible – with Siya Kolisi brought back in.

It was a stunning start to the landmark series, with New Zealand overturning South Africa at Ellis Park last week.