The All Blacks come to South Africa as the Tri-Nations champions, with their last visit to Loftus Versfeld in 2003 seeing them annihilate the Springboks 52-16.
Add to that the fact that the All Blacks are unbeaten so far this year.
The Springboks, on the other hand, are struggling and trying to shake off their four-match losing run.
Without a win in this year’s Tri-Nations and hit with a string of injuries, notably those to flankers Juan Smith and Joe van Niekerk on the eve of the Test, the Boks are a wounded unit.
It was reported on Friday that Pierre Spies will start at number seven for the Boks with Pedrie Wannanberg moving on to the bench.
But White has rejected down any talk that his team are walking into the lion’s den and that the All Blacks have won this encounter before running onto the field.
For White, Saturday will be a new chapter in an age-old rugby rivalry that has captivated the world through the highs and lows of both teams.
This time around, history matters little for White and his charges and the Boks are certainly looking to turn their misfortunes around and continue to irritate the All Blacks by beating them in South Africa again.
”They have shown that they are the form team and they have done well in the past at Loftus. Whatever happened in the past is irrelevant. They’ve had a shorter time to recover and I hope that plays to our advantage,” White said.
At face value, the Boks seem to be carrying a heavier load of pressure than the All Blacks, but White believes that the pressure they face now is no different from that of any other Test.
”The pressure of losing any Test match is the same. There is no noose around the players’ necks. The only noose is that coming from the country and the expectation from the people for this team to win,” said White.
And if the All Blacks are looking forward to the Boks’ downfall based on their last outing at Loftus, then they had better think again as most of the players in this Bok team were not part of that game.
Springbok captain John Smit, who played in that Loftus massacre, admits that it is a match that he would like to forget quickly.
But he also said that it is a part of Springbok history that has no relevance to this Bok team as they were never on the field that day.
”I do unfortunately remember that day. It is certainly not a day and week that went well for us. But it hasn’t played a factor this week and today [Friday] is the first time I’m hearing about it since being here,” Smit said.
All things aside, this Test promises to be an epic battle, one that New Zealand are also taking seriously as they seek that elusive win on South African soil.
The Tri-Nations is now a closed book and the following two Tests are a mini series — albeit an unofficial series — which this All Black team will be planning to win to become only the second New Zealand side to do so after Sean Fitzpatrick’s men in 1996.
History may be irrelevant, but at the end of this Test one team will hold the boasting rights — for a week that is — until another historic chapter in this encounter is written at the second Test. — Sapa