With the world champions and IRB’s top-ranked side 'Down Under and a half' on the very edge of reason (and the planet) in New Zealand, you might be justified believing the All Blacks must be favourites to beat South Africa in Saturday's mighty contest between these age-old rivals. But they're not !

New Zealand have not yet joined the international trend which sees hosts being beating at home, a bizarre Kiwi concoction which hampers positive perceptions of their country as Rugby World Cup hosts in 2011.

New Zealand have, by hook or by crook, managed to ensure they are nigh invincible on home soil and the Springboks have to look back more than a decade to find a victory over the ABs in the land of the long mystical invincibility cloud.

This time round, the Springboks are throwing the kitchen sink at pressuring the Kiwis into a mindset that might accede defeat and the clear superiority of the Bok world champions, who herald a new era of a more democratic order in the game.

Rugby union followers per se are rallying behind the Springboks as New Zealand again seek to rise to the throne of the sport and dictate the game as they have for the last decade (or two). Around the world, eyes will be trained on the All Black handling of the Springboks at home - and this may show how New Zealand will perform as hosts in 2011.

New Zealand is notoriously one-eyed and winning in Aeotora is about as easy as getting a fair trial in Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan. Senior rugby union commentators are pinning their hopes on the 2008 Tri-Nations encounters in New Zealand and hoping 'equity' might finally become a reality and earn a belated entry into the Kiwi rugby union dictionary.