Springbok utility back, Cheslin Kolbe believes the All Blacks will come out “firing” when the two giants square off in round four of the Rugby Championship at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday (17:00). 

 The Boks, who defeated their arch-rivals 31-27 in last week’s highly anticipated meeting at Ellis Park, will set their sights on maintaining their unbeaten record in this year’s tournament and edge closer to reclaiming the title they last won in 2019. 

 A player who was part of that triumph five years ago is Kolbe, and he will likely feature this weekend for the World Champions on the wing in front of his home supporters. 

 Kolbe, who addressed the media on Wednesday ahead of the team announcement on Thursday morning, said they’re wary of a dangerous All Blacks side and have prepared themselves for a tough rematch. 

 “We’ve struggled in the past with having two consecutive games against teams like Ireland earlier in the year, and Australia which we did quite well,” he said. 

 “We’ve tried to improve, get that consistency whenever we do play teams twice – It just depends on the team, players, and how well we are focused throughout the week.

“We know South Africa versus New Zealand is always a war, and this coming weekend won’t be any different – they are going to come out firing and we need to make sure we prepare as well as we can.” 

The Boks, in last week’s meeting, were on the back foot almost immediately when the visitors started like a house on fire opening the scoring with a Cody Taylor five-pointer with under 10 minutes played. 

Rassie Erasmus’s men, for the remainder of the encounter, played second fiddle but never gave in, closing off the match strongly with two late tries by Kwagga Smith, and Grant Williams. 

 Kolbe believes they’ll have to rectify their slow start and avoid being “caught out” this time around. “We know they’re a team with a lot of skill sets, all around the field,” he added. 

“In the past, it’s been all about that fast start that they come with and catch us off guard sometimes – we need to make sure that we start fast as well, so we don’t get caught out.

“There was a stage during the game where we just didn’t have that consistency and continuity and managed to hang in there towards the end so, it’s all about that first 20 minutes, and that physical start that will lay the foundation for how the test match will look.” 

 The flying winger, and his troops will, this week need to put up a solid 80-minute performance, and the bench, just like last weekend, will be called upon if they are to beat the All Blacks in Cape Town. 

 Their last meeting in the Mother City back in 2017 resulted in a heartbreaking 25-24 win for the Kiwis. 

 “I do believe we are way fitter than what we were,” he said. “Coach Rassie and the management team know exactly what they are doing when they bring on the bench. For us, it’s just to adapt, and keep that continuity during the game.” 

 The Boks, this week have opted to name their team on Thursday instead of the traditional Tuesday in order to give captain, Siya Kolisi enough time to recover from a face injury he suffered last week.