Bok coach on All Blacks: 'They are always desperate'

SPOTLIGHT: The Springboks are bracing themselves for a "desperate" All Blacks team in their upcoming home leg of the Rugby Championship.

The two teams will kick things off with a match in Nelspruit on August 6 before they meet again a week later in Johannesburg on August 13.

New Zealand will be heading to South Africa under severe pressure after their historic 1-2 series defeat to Ireland in July.

There have been calls for NZ Rugby to fire head coach Ian Foster, while captain Sam Cane hasn’t escaped criticism with his leadership skills also under the spotlight.

"We are all under pressure - if you lose two games you are under pressure," said Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber.

"I think they are going to be desperate, but at the same time, I think New Zealand are always desperate.

"They have a lot to play for just like us.

"We are playing for our nation, and they are playing for their nation.

"We are all under pressure and we are just trying to look at the reality and the things that we can control.

"We can't control how desperate they are and what they are going to do. We can only control what we can control."

A different challenge

The Bok coach also opened up on the type of game plan the All Blacks will adopt in South Africa.

"It will probably be a little bit different to the challenge that Wales brought," said Nienaber.

"If you look at the athletes that they have and if you look at the skillset that they have available to them, it's probably going to be a game built around a lot of continuity and maybe moving the ball around a bit.

"They don't shy away from set-piece battles, which they showed against Ireland.

"So, it is going to be a blend of set-piece battles and also probably a bit more continuity than what we saw in the Welsh series.

"In saying that, Wales really tested us, especially if you think of the try they scored in Cape Town against us from the restart.

"I thought they kept the ball alive and kept good continuity going, so I think it is probably going to be a challenge like that."

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