Jean de Villiers says the Springboks, if they strike the right balance between attack and defence, will beat the All Blacks in back-to-back Rugby Championship Tests.

The world champion Boks face the embattled All Blacks at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday, and then again at Ellis Park a week later.

Jacques Nienaber’s men will enter the Rugby Championship with a series victory over Wales under their belt, while Ian Foster and the All Blacks have touched down in South Africa off the back of a shock 2-1 defeat by Ireland in New Zealand.

De Villiers, who was part of the John Smit-led Bok team that won back-to-back Tests against the All Blacks in 2009, says New Zealand have shown chinks in their armour that Jacques Nienaber’s troops must exploit.

“The All Blacks have been poor results-wise and will want to rectify that in South Africa,” De Villiers told BokSquad. “They are struggling with certain areas of their game, which the Boks will want to exploit.

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“Another factor is that New Zealand’s players no longer play Super Rugby in South Africa. In the past, they would get to play at altitude during Super Rugby so it wouldn’t have too much of an effect on them in the Tri-Nations or Rugby Championship. Many of their players who come to South Africa this year won’t be used to it, which will benefit the Boks.

“The Boks will obviously look to exploit areas of weakness in the All Blacks’ game and I hope they have learned from last year’s two matches against them,” he added.

“The Boks lost the first game narrowly after showing no ambition with ball in hand. In the second game, which they won, they did keep ball in hand and took their opportunities to attack. That is when the Boks are at their best, the 2019 World Cup final being a prime example.

“The Boks put teams under pressure by playing the game they play – a strong, solid first phase, big defence and a good kicking game – but if they can get the balance right in terms of attack, and keep ball in hand when the opportunity is there, then they can definitely win both games against the All Blacks.”

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Photo: Dave Hunt/EPA