The All Blacks arrive in South Africa rested and confident after their 39-10 destruction of the Wallabies 12 days ago. Graham Henry has named an unchanged starting XV for the first time in 2008 - and for only the third time in four years.

This is a significantly different side to the team that narrowly lost to the Springboks at Carisbrook. Arguably the world’s best forward, Richie McCaw, is back after inspiring his team to deadly heights against Australia. Brad Thorn and Greg Somerville, missing in Dunedin, return to face the world champions and give a deciding menace to the All Black pack. Jimmy Cowan, the best halfback in New Zealand, rightfully retains his place – and is joined by the first-choice Hurricanes combination midfield of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.

The All Blacks could not field a stronger team.

Meanwhile, the Springboks have named a line-up ironically weakened as New Zealand were at the House of Pain. Thorn was missing then, now it is the Springboks' most abrasive lock Bakkies Botha who is out. South African captain John Smit is also missing – as was his All Black counterpart McCaw.

Question marks remain all over the Springbok team. Is JP Pietersen the second-best winger in South African rugby, with the Springboks able to call on a squadron of flying threequarters? Despite his class, is Fourie Du Preez ready to play against South Africa’s most dangerous of enemies?  And why is World Cup-winning prop BJ Botha not in the side?

As we must cite for the next four years, the Springboks are the world champions. But that mighty tag requires that the team not make any excuses – there should not be such a thing as a weak South African side. However, in the same manner, those All Black supporters cannot quote their mighty history, so the Springboks cannot fall back on their World Cup.

The ledger between these mighty enemies this year stands at one game at piece. The winners of the epic in Newlands this weekend will wield bragging rights. They will also hold the position as the International Rugby Board's No,1 ranked team in the world. While the Wallabies may have a thing or two to say before this Tri-Nations series closes, the All Blacks want to take the Springboks' scalp most of all – and most definitely vice versa.

The All Blacks, their horror show in Syney aside, have shown plenty of mettle to indicate they will be the most vicious opponents the world champions have hosted in their reign so far. If they replicate their performance in the 29-point destruction of the Wallabies in the Garden of Eden, Peter de Villiers' men will be in for a hard night.

The Springboks will be confident after an astonishing 63-9 pounding of Argentina – but the insipid performance of the Pumas in the last 50 minutes was hardly match-hardening. If anything, it caused palpitations in the corridors of power in Buenos Aires. Clearly the fourth-best team in the world have a long way to go before ithey can compete with the SANZAR behemoths.

Unlike the opening games of the Tri-Nations, it is fair to say that this All Black team on paper have the edge on their South African rivals. The New Zealand pack looks stable, containing close to 400 Test caps. The front row will cause the Springboks problems, and Victor Matfield will need to increase his workrate to compete with the first-choice All Black locking combination.

It is fair to say that the two teams' loose forwards are fairly evenly matched – but the return of Rodney So’oialo and Jerome Kaino to their natural positions strengthen the New Zealand back row, and the Springboks do not have a player as brilliant as McCaw.

At this time last year, Fourie Du Preez was the world’s premier scrum-half, but he is only one game back from injury – while Jimmy Cowan was deservedly man of the match against the Wallabies in Auckland.

The Bulls scrum-half takes the place of Enrico Januarie, who all but won the game for South Africa in Dunedin. Butch James has the ability to contain one of the great fly-halves of all time in Dan Carter, but he must try to outplay the mercurial No.10 and not just concentrate on trying to beat him up defensively.

In the midfield, Jean de Villiers remains the best inside centre in the game, but Ma’a Nonu is having a vintage 2008 and will run at the Springboks all day. With Conrad Smith’s intelligence calming the best line breaker in world rugby, Adrian Jacobs will need to ensure he backs up his coaches' rating of his defensive abilities.

In the threequarter line it is closely matched with very different players. Bryan Habana remains one of the world’s great wingers – but if Sitiveni Sivivatu is plays to potential, it could be his match. Both Pietersen and Richard Kahui remain contentious choices – with Pietersen’s selection based on his attacking genius, while the Waikato centre is there for his granite defence.

At the back, we are privileged to witness two of the game's great current fullbacks. Percy Montgomery joins the elitist of clubs, becoming just the ninth Test rugby centurion. His boot was instrumental the last time these two foes met. In the black, Mils Muliaina has confirmed his position as the best running No.15 in the game – and outside Carter is the most polished All Black of 2008.

Matt Goddard will adjudicate the match – and we must pray that the inconsistent Australian does not influence the game. Of further interest is the sideline prowling of Wayne Barnes. This is the first time he has crossed paths with the All Blacks since that ill-fated World Cup match...

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Andries Bekker, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Willliams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Prediction: Both teams to employ similar territory-pinning tactics, but the All Blacks to record a famous victory by six points.