New Zealand coach Graham Henry says the rigours of playing last weekend against Australia and then travelling immediately to South Africa is why he is making 11 changes to his team for Saturday's Tri-Nations test against the Springboks.
Only centre Luke McAlister, outhalf Dan Carter, back Mils Muliaina and captain Richie McCaw survive from the starting side in Saturday's tournament-clinching 34-27 win over the Wallabies.
"We know every match against the Springboks will be tremendously hard and very physical and we've just come through a tough contest with Australia, so the changes are strategic," Henry says.
"We have not had much recovery time and had to travel for 18 hours off the back of a game and we'll be playing the Springboks at high altitude. That's why we had to make a number of changes."
Injury-plagued Sitiveni Sivivatu gets his first test call-up this year on the left wing, with Muliaina - who played fullback against Australia - running the midfield alongside McAlister.
Leon Macdonald comes in at fullback and Rico Gear on the right wing.
Forwards coach Steve Hansen says New Zealand are expecting "another big, physical clash up front" and the All Blacks will field an entirely new tight five.
"We believe this pack is better suited to play against South Africa than the one that played against Australia. This group are fresh and we wanted a fresh pack so we can mount a really good challenge on Saturday," Hansen says.
The All Blacks have not won in South Africa since their last appearance in Pretoria, in 2003, when they thrashed the Springboks 52-16. Their 22-16 defeat in Cape Town last year is their only loss in the last two years.
"In Cape Town last year we had come off the British Lions series where we had played reasonably well and we perhaps had an inflated opinion of our own ability," Henry says.
"This weekend is similar in that we have had four Tri-Nations wins and hopefully we don't have an inflated opinion of ourselves this time. We have addressed the things we didn't do particularly well the last time we were here.
"But it's been a long time between drinks as far as winning in South Africa goes,"
New Zealand: 15-Leon Macdonald; 14-Rico Gear, 13-Mils Muliaina, 12-Luke McAlister, 11-Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10-Dan Carter, 9-Piri Weepu; 8-Chris Masoe, 7-Richie McCaw (captain), 6-Reuben Thorne, 5-Ali Williams, 4-Greg Rawlinson, 3-Greg Somerville, 2-Anton Oliver, 1-Neemia Tialata. Replacements: 16-Keven Mealamu, 17-Tony Woodcock, 18-Chris Jack, 19-Jerry Collins, 20-Jimmy Cowan, 21-Sam Tuitupou, 22-Isaia Toeava. Reuters
