Springboks lock Bakkies Botha has returned from suspension and is representing South African muscle in its purest form. Photo / Getty Images

Springboks lock Bakkies Botha has returned from suspension and is representing South African muscle in its purest form. Photo / Getty Images

It was among their most emphatic rugby wins in South Africa, but last year the spotlight missed the All Blacks.

Instead it shone on Beijing, specifically New Zealand medal heroes Valerie Vili, Hayden Roulston and a clutch of rowers.

The national rugby team celebrated their own Super Saturday hours later on August 17 with a 19-0 win in Cape Town, catapulting them towards another Tri-Nations crown. Tomorrow morning (NZ time) in Bloemfontein the All Blacks are the lead act - a return to club rugby for Daniel Carter perhaps the biggest competition for attention this weekend.

And they will deserve all manner of plaudits if they can topple a Springbok side who still strongly resemble their 2007 world champion model and harbour few apparent weaknesses.

Primed by a hard-fought series win over the Lions, the Africans lie in wait for a New Zealand side who have operated at several cylinders below their best this season. There was improvement on their June efforts in last Saturday's defeat of Australia, but the Wallabies were surprisingly poor.

Since then, the players have barely had time to breathe before arriving in the thin air of the High Veldt, where there has been time for just two full training sessions.

As usual when these two rugby heavyweights square off, the winners will be the team who do the ugly things best, according to All Black coach Graham Henry.

"Professional rugby at the top level is hugely physical and probably the people who have set that standard are the Springboks," he said.

"We respect that and try to match them in that part of the game. If you don't match them, then you get second.

"We just have to come up to that challenge really."

Representing South African muscle in its purest form is lock Bakkies Botha, who missed what was an embarrassing result for the hosts last year in Cape Town.

He has returned from suspension and his intimidation will need to be met in kind by the likes of opposite Brad Thorn if the All Blacks aren't to spend the match on the back foot.

The next question is whether first five-eighths Stephen Donald can shrug off the doubts that continue to nag over his test readiness. Playing at altitude asks questions of any No 10 and another step forward from Donald could make all the difference. Waikato teammate Brendon Leonard is installed at halfback, while Joe Rokocoko comes onto the wing.