KEY POINTS:
Stash the political correctness. This is going to be a fiery test tonight with enough combustion from the second All Blacks-Springbok clash to provide underground heating for Carisbrook.
Both sides played out a coaching charade yesterday with questions for referee Matt Goddard when they know there will be
no retreat, no backdown tonight at the House Of Pain.
This will be the sort of international where the side to blink first will be run over, where the battleaxe will replace the rapier, the scythe will take over from the knife.
The All Blacks are defending an unbeaten 30-test stretch at home and garnering a new group of players as they emerge from the last World Cup tribulations.
The Boks are defending the prestige of their World Cup victory, they want to break open a more expressive style of rugby under new coach Peter de Villiers and are desperate, some might say obsessed, with cracking the decade of dominance the All Blacks have built against them in New Zealand.
There is a sense of brutality and certainly hostility about this return test, the first in Dunedin for three years, with doubts the all-Australian sheriff team will be able to manage the match.
Sanctimonious statements have been delivered about teams' responsibilities but there seems to be an even greater edge to this test than a week ago in Wellington.
The Boks will sense a chance to unsettle a young All Black pack shorn of the enforcer Brad Thorn, without the supreme forager Richie McCaw or the wise tighthead Greg Somerville.
Half the All Black pack _ John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Jerome Kaino, Adam Thomson _ have just 14 caps between them while every Bok forward has played that or more tests themselves.
Both sides were shovelling out admirably politically correct lines yesterday about responsibilities to the game but many of the 29,000 at Carisbrook and many others who tune in to broadcasts will do so in anticipation of some violence.
Call it what you like, legalised mayhem or strongarm tactics, but part of the fascination is to see how close to the edge teams take it and how the officials will deal with it.
Given Goddard's history and the twitchy performances of his sidekicks James Leckie and Paul Marks, rugby may only make intermittent appearances in this match.
If the trio get overly zealous as Goddard did in his last test in Argentina, or too busy with their talking flags, Carisbrook may be reduced to a lecture session rather than a sporting contest.
Sometimes officials need to let a bit of niggle pass as long as they catch and punish major acts of foul play, including episodes like late tackling which can escalate quickly into violence.
The officials should remember Tana Umaga's reaction when the All Black captain offered the advice that "we're not playing tiddlywinks here" to one referee.
Three years ago the same teams were involved in the last international to be held at the famous old ground, a match which went the All Blacks' way 31-27 in a desperate finish. The Boks lacked that extra bit of conviction to nail that match and had more of it dented last week.
Defeat there sacked an unbeaten trail of 14 games including their World Cup triumph, and reignited those doubts which have stayed with them in New Zealand since Wellington 1998. The response has been to alter a wing and fullback and introduce Bismarck du Plessis for injured captain John Smit. The visitors feel they are better geared in the pack after last week's hit out while the All Blacks have rejigged their unit again.
The hosts remain confident they can back up the Boks again in the scrums though the visitors were talking yesterday of an improvement.
"We have worked hard. We thought we got a good hit last week but then allowed ourselves to get moved on the second shove," forwards coach Gary Gold said.
Technical reviews, video sessions, practice and discussion had gone into rectifying the problem while some Boks like new captain Victor Matfield and Butch James have now played under the new laws.
Meanwhile, All Black coach Graham Henry felt more content about Ali Williams after the lock trained more this week on his tender ankle.
His trump card again will be Daniel Carter. If the first five is allowed space and time he will hurt the Boks.
If anything though, that run stretching back to 2003 is in greater danger tonight than it was last week.
