Rugby: Springboks wary of All Blacks first-five Beauden Barrett bouncing back in Pretoria

Beauden Barrett reacts following the All Blacks' defeat to South Africa. Photo / Getty

The Springboks are well aware that they can't rely on another bad day from Beauden Barrett if they are to complete a Rugby Championship sweep over the All Blacks in Pretoria on Sunday.

Barrett was below-par in the All Blacks defeat at Westpac Stadium, missing four of his six attempts at goal in the 36-34 loss.

He bounced back with a perfect day with the boot in Sunday's win over Argentina, kicking four from four.

Asked whether the Springboks could exploit any pressure on Barrett when he's lining up a kick, Springboks number 10 Handre Pollard responded by saying his All Blacks' opposite doesn't feel much pressure.

"The best player in the world who's played 70-odd test matches doesn't feel too much pressure. He's a confident guy. He had a couple of off days in the past. I'm sure he'll be 100 percent this weekend. So we can't leave anything up to him feeling the pressure. We've got to play as good as we can and make sure that his kicks won't affect us," Pollard told media today.

It's fair to say Pollard doesn't feel much pressure either. He kicked five from five penalties in South Africa's tense 20-18 semifinal defeat to the All Blacks at the last World Cup however has been hampered by injuries since.

He missed the entire 2016 season following shoulder surgery which led to an infection and the possibility of amputation at one point during his recovery.

The 24-year-old returned to form late last year and has looked to have secured the number 10 jersey.

"It's great being fit again. It's great playing a lot of minutes after missing basically two years of rugby. It was really frustrating and you really really miss it, especially these big occasions, these big test matches."