Rugby: All Blacks are about to show Springboks what pressure really looks like

It's business as usual for the All Blacks on arrival in Johannesburg for their final test of the Rugby Championship. The expectations on them are as high as ever and on Sunday we'll find out how the Springboks cope with that unique pressure in front of an expectant home crowd.

Ticket sales for the test at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld were sluggish before the Boks beat the All Blacks 36-34 in Wellington three weeks ago. Straight afterwards it was a sellout and all eyes, especially those belonging to Boks' fans, will be on whether their side can back their victory up; the true measure of a team on an upward curve.

Everyone likes a winner and the players themselves will be enjoying that feeling too. So far the signs are good for longer term success, but take that inspired victory over the world champions out and the Rugby Championship has probably been par for the course for new coach Rassie Erasmus, although he inspires more confidence – out least from the outside looking in – than Allister Coetzee.

They began with a victory over the Pumas in Durban, lost the return test a week later in Mendoza, lost to a struggling Wallabies side in Brisbane and beat the Australians last weekend in Port Elizabeth, helped by an intercepted Kurtley Beale pass within the first minute.

They scored only three points in the second half for a 23-12 victory against a side so low on confidence it wouldn't surprise if the Wallabies lost to Argentina in Salta on Sunday. On review of this season the Boks' failure to beat Michael Cheika's men at Suncorp Stadium too should represent a bad failure.

The Boks are now defending well – a sign of a harmonious team. Are they creating enough attacking opportunities and finishing them if and when they do? They certainly did at Westpac Stadium, but that was a one-off for them this season.

"All Blacks live in a constant pressure to win," Steve Hansen told a group of South African journalists on arrival in Johannesburg. "It's interesting you guys were writing the Boks off, now you're starting to write us off which is quite good."

The All Blacks have made no secret of the fact they are looking to right a wrong in Pretoria. They will seek to bring an intensity on defence that was missing in Wellington and it will be fascinating to see how the Boks cope with that and the added anger in the ball carries and scrum collisions that defeat has prompted.

Hansen also spoke about the small margins between teams at this level and all of the senior players, from Kieran Read down, will be wanting to extract that little bit extra out of themselves after their failure to deliver in the closing stages at Westpac Stadium.

The suspicion remains that the All Blacks sailed into a perfect storm of hubris on one side (they needed a bonus point win to wrap up the Rugby Championship with two tests to spare and scored two tries in the opening 15 minutes) and near career-best form on the other.

The head coach often talks about the players' backsides edging a little closer to the front of their seats following a loss. Can the Boks find it in themselves to go the same way following a victory?

If they can then the rebuild of South African rugby has definitely started and the rest of the world should be put on notice. If not then we might have to wait a while yet.