The All Blacks and Springboks will field two very experienced starting fifteens for tonight's opening Tri Nations rugby test in Auckland, with more than 1300 test caps between them .
But the visitors have more veteran replacements to call on, among them the big replacement forward Danie Roussow who's played 48 tests.
The Springboks captain John Smit says coach Peter de Villiers is fortunate to be able to call on new players like the exciting Stormers wing Gio Aplon, and the experience of Roussow, who can play lock or loose forward.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks flanker Jerome Kaino says there's no point in dwelling on the errors they made in their three losses to South Africa last season.
Kaino says they have to go into the game confidently and while Springbok loose forwards demand respect, they can be countered with a strong performance from New Zealand's forward unit.
He says the absence of the injured Cheetahs fetcher Heinrich Broussow won't weaken the Springboks, because the Stormers' Francois Louw has been one of the form flankers in the Super 14.
