South Africa arrive in Johannesburg with the momentum. A week after being pulled apart 33-16 at Ellis Park, the Springboks levelled Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry with a 33-26 win in Cape Town on 29 August, driven by tries from Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and captain Siya Kolisi and a flawless day off the tee from Cheslin Kolbe.

Rassie Erasmus has kept faith with almost the entire XV that got it done at DHL Stadium. The one enforced change is at the back: with Damian Willemse ruled out by a hamstring injury, Kolbe moves to fullback and Kurt-Lee Arendse returns to the wing after clearing a concussion protocol. It will only be Kolbe’s second start at fullback for South Africa, on the back of a series in which he has landed 11 of 11 kicks at goal for 29 points.

The winner walks out 2-1 up

Erasmus has framed the FNB Stadium Test as the pivot of the series, since a 2-1 lead will effectively put the trophy within reach before the tour crosses the Atlantic.

“This game is going to be equally, if not more intense than the last two given the fact that the team that wins this match will be two games up in the series,” he said this week.

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“Make no mistake, this is going to be another intense battle between the two top teams in the world who are both looking to get an edge in the series, so we know what we have to do, and composure and accuracy are going to be vital for both sides.”

The Springboks coach also leaned into the setting.

“With the vuvuzelas and passionate crowd there, we can hardly hear one another on the field, so we are all thrilled about this occasion.”

Ruben Love handed the No. 10 jersey

Dave Rennie, in his first year in charge of the All Blacks after being appointed in March as Scott Robertson’s replacement, has to find an answer to how his side conceded 33 points in Cape Town after a five-match winning run. Ardie Savea again captains the visitors from No. 8, with Cam Roigard and Ruben Love picked as the halfback pairing and Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea in the midfield, with Leroy Carter on the wing. Fabian Holland and Tupou Vaa’i pack down in the second row, with Simon Parker and Luke Jacobson at flanker.

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Erasmus was more sympathetic when asked how Rennie would respond to a first defeat in the job.

“Dave’s experienced, he will get the team calm and he’ll do it now with his first loss,” he told reporters after the Cape Town win.

“They’ll be under pressure. He’ll feel what we felt last week.”

Baltimore looms as a possible dead rubber

The four-Test series concludes at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on 12 September, an experiment in taking one of the sport’s oldest rivalries to a neutral market. On paper, that game is meant to be the crescendo. In practice, a home win on Saturday would leave New Zealand needing to avoid a series defeat rather than fight for a trophy, and a New Zealand win would leave the Springboks in the same corner.

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The Springboks currently sit No. 1 in the World Rugby rankings, one place above the All Blacks, and a series won on South African soil, or defended by the visitors, would carry into the 2027 Rugby World Cup cycle as the more meaningful marker than any ranking.

Kick-off at FNB Stadium is at 5pm local time on Saturday, 5 September, with the Springbok Women and the Black Ferns meeting earlier in the afternoon as the curtain-raiser.

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