JOHANNESBURG - While the big news from the Bok camp yesterday was the green light given to young flyhalf Johan Goosen to take back the goal-kicking duties, Meyer said the All Blacks have set the standard  while the rest are still trying to catch up.

In  eight Tests in charge of the national team, Meyer has only come up against the Kiwis once –  losing 21-11 in Dunedin on September 15.

“The All Blacks have been the world’s best team for a number of years.

“That’s why they  won the World Cup last year and remain the team to beat,” said Meyer.

“For some reason, New Zealand always get it right, they have managed their players very well and that’s why you will see they don’t have a lot of injury disruptions.

“And they also have in Richie McCaw the best captain in world rugby and the thing that strikes me most about the All Blacks is that even if they play badly, they still end up winning. For us as Boks it will be a huge challenge this weekend.” 

The Bok coach also highlighted another aspect of the All Black  game – the speed and prowess they possess in their backline and they just seem to enjoy playing on the Highveld, a sign of a very professional team.

“Their coach Steve Hansen was probably in charge as an assistant for almost 100 Tests before he became the head coach. I would have loved to say the same thing for one of my assistants,” said Meyer.

“While it would maybe suit us if they move the ball wide, they are such experts at turning ball over and use it to their benefit, that it could spell trouble for us.”

Meyer  said the last time the two teams met in Dunedin where the All Blacks won, it was probably the Bok unknown factor that caused uncertainty in the New Zealand ranks.

“I think maybe at the time they underestimated us,” he said as it came just a week after South Africa had lost 26-19 to the Wallabies, “and we were still unknown to them.

“But as a side I would  like to think we have improved, but once you  have learnt lessons as a team, you have to improve  the next time you play.

“As a side, New Zealand  showed good form against Argentina last weekend, but I also like to believe we have improved as a side from the  time we have played the All Blacks in Dunedin.

“We have great belief in our side and hopefully we can get it right this weekend,” said Meyer, who  added the FNB Stadium alone won’t win it for the Boks.

 “It will be great to have 80 000-plus there, but we still have to go out there and show our worth and ability,” said Meyer.