It would be easy, amid the backdrop of their maiden defeat in Argentina, the pressure to defend Eden Park and the biggest test on home soil in eight years, for the All Blacks to tighten into a conservative shell against the Springboks.
Any form of victory, ugly or otherwise, will suffice this week.
Such an approach would be a mistake, though, and only serve to play into the Springboks’ hands.
Fear cannot drive the All Blacks. They must instead embrace their point of difference, their athletic, mobile, skilled forwards, and unlock their stuttering backline attack, to put the Springboks on the back foot and leave their big men gasping for air this weekend.
The All Blacks cannot be sucked into emulating the Springboks.
Sure, test rugby is nuanced. It demands discipline, accurate kicking, winning collisions, controlling the air, defensive resilience and set-piece strength.
But a slow, dogfight grind will not win the All Blacks this test match. Neither will conservatism.
This is not about being pig-headed or aesthetically pleasing. It’s playing to your inherent strengths.
With Tyrel Lomax returning this week, the All Blacks possess a scrum, lineout and maul to match or better the Springboks. But in Wallace Sititi, Tamaiti Williams, Ardie Savea and Tupou Vaa’i, they boast superior, skilled athletes who must be encouraged to offload when it’s on and play freely.
The same is true for the All Blacks backline that has, to this point this year, been clunky at best.
The Springboks rush defence brings suffocating pressure that squeezes time and space on the midfield but it also creates ample opportunity to exploit space on the edge and in behind the line through a well-executed short-kicking game. Think Beauden Barrett chipping for Will Jordan.
The All Blacks’ mantra this year has been to play at pace. It hasn’t always worked but now is not the time to change tack.
New Zealand’s winter climate presents challenges using the ball but in many ways, Joe Schmdit’s Wallabies offered a timely blueprint as they regularly broke the Springboks open while splitting their two-match Rugby Championship mini-series in South Africa last month.
The Wallabies nullified the Springboks’ forward power at times through speed, width, ball movement and an array of kicks that were often regathered.
This is where the All Blacks must attack, too.
There’s no doubt Rassie Erasmus will have the odd trick up his sleeve but with Handre Pollard reinstated to run the cutter and bank points off the tee, the Springboks are not about to go for broke.
That approach blew up in their face when they lost their heads and conceded 38 unanswered points in their wild loss to the Wallabies at Ellis Park.
The following week in Cape Town, the Boks returned to their kick-heavy, forward-led, power-based game to squeeze out an unconvincing rebound victory.
It would be a major shock if they do not continue with that traditional approach as they attempt to bash down fortress Eden Park.
While the stakes are significantly elevated this weekend, the All Blacks must harness the confidence to give the pass when it’s on, to not clam up, and instead back their skills to thrive.
Scott Robertson’s coaching crew are new to the all-consuming international arena but there’s more than enough experience in this All Blacks team to draw on the knowledge of how to expel self-doubt and use this occasion to spark their attacking potential.
“It’s the understanding of fighting styles,” All Blacks assistant coach Scott Hansen said. “They’re direct, they’re very physical and they go to the air.
“Our fighting style is different. We want to manipulate differently, so it’s around how we control and adjust during the test.
“The All Blacks are at their best when they adjust, when our attack is being decisive and when we’re earning opportunities through our defence.
“We have to be courageous; we have to be fearless and we need to play like the All Blacks.
“It’s a massive opportunity for us this week. The world champions at home at Eden Park. This is exactly the type of challenge the team needs to know where we are at. That’s the way we’ve approached it, that’s what’s in front of us.”
The All Blacks know classy halfback Grant Williams will relentlessly box-kick and that Cheslin Kolbe will be joined by towering loose forwards and locks attempting to make a lottery of the high-ball contest.
With Sir Wayne Smith in All Blacks camp this week, though, there is no better man to ignite the counter-attack.
A barrage of high balls offers opportunities to counter-punch by finding space and attacking fractured defensive lines.
Savea’s 100th-test milestone should fuel the All Blacks, too, particularly the likes of Sititi, who proved after he was thrust into his maiden test start in South Africa last year how valuable a fearless attitude can be.
“His favourite term is ‘just have a jam’. That’s what footy is,” Sititi said of Savea’s best advice. “That’s why we play. That’s why we love watching.
“As much as there’s pressure, at the end of the day, it’s going out there and having a jam with the boys and living the dream.”
That dream will turn to a nightmare if the All Blacks are dragged into trudging from set piece to set piece and consistently box-kicking into the Saturday night sky.
Now is the time to be bold and brave.
All Blacks don’t blink in the face of pressure.
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.