However, their defiance soon shone through in the deep south. Bryan Habana scored a superb individual try but their three goalkickers Morne Steyn, Frans Steyn and Johan Goosen kicked only two of nine attempts. Substitute Greyling's moment of madness when he launched himself at McCaw in a ruck and connected with his elbow, for which he was sinbinned, also cost them.
In the end it was replacement halfback Aaron Smith who was the hero for the All Blacks. Dropped to the reserves bench in favour of Piri Weepu due to a breach of protocol the previous weekend in Wellington, Smith sped through the Boks defence for the second-half try which broke the 8-8 deadlock.
"Last year, I really thought we could have won that game because the All Blacks probably underestimated us in a sense," Meyer said. "We drew against England, played really badly away, drew in Mendoza, lost against Australia ... on that day if our kicking was better maybe we would have had a chance.
"This is going to be tough because they know we're in form at the moment, they know we can win away from home, we've proven it, so they will be very well prepared. One thing I know about the All Blacks is that they always lift for a challenge, so we need to be much better than in previous weeks, we need to be really clinical and focused and bring a lot of energy."
Meyer called McCaw's absence for this test in Auckland due to a knee injury a "big blow" for the All Blacks, but added: "One of the things I know about New Zealand ... is that they have probably the best opensides going around. He [Sam Cane] is a quality player.
"They've won a lot of games without Richie as well so they won't change their game plan. We know what to expect. We think the breakdown will be a war as it usually is, especially away from home and especially in NZ."
Meyer called the test for the lead of the Rugby Championship the "ultimate challenge, and tougher than we've ever had before".
"We're totally underdogs but we like that tag. We're in a win-win situation and we can't wait." APNZ
