All Blacks: Nonu calls for all-or-nothing effort

Ma'a Nonu wants the All Blacks to leave nothing in reserve against the Springboks tomorrow or else endure a guilt-ridden three weeks before they play their next Tri-Nations rugby test.

New Zealand will not return to action until the August 22 fixture against Australia in Sydney, while South Africa may well have preservation for next week's test against the Wallabies in Cape Town in the back of their minds.

"We've just got to empty the tank, basically," second five-eighths Nonu said.

"We haven't hit our straps so far really in the backs. Hopefully, we can get our rhythm going and score some tries."

Nonu will play his 21st consecutive test, a record for any player in the six-year coaching reign of Graham Henry.

He will be joined on that figure by teammate Keven Mealamu, presuming the hooker comes off the reserve bench, and the pair will move past the 20-test runs of Mils Muliaina and Chris Jack under Henry in 2004-05.

Since missing selection for the 2007 World Cup, Nonu has worn the No12 starting jersey for all but one test, when he came off the reserves' bench against Australia in Hong Kong last November.

"I've gotten better from when I was a player, say, two years ago," said Nonu, whose first 18 tests were spread over five seasons.

"You want to keep improving and, like everyone in the team, I want to become a great player.

"Richie McCaw's up there, Dan Carter and stuff. A lot of players want to be like them. But you've got to be consistent."

Nonu has been at the heart of a backline that has laboured to penetrate defences this year, with the execution poor in the 28-19 loss to the Springboks at Bloemfontein last weekend.

The 27-year-old believes he has become more closely marked, with video analysis neutralising the impact of a man who slices through Super 14 defences like a scythe.

"There's no room like you have in Super 14," he said.

"You always want to come up with a new plan, have something up your sleeve on attack because you can't run through the South Africans.

"You have to find a way to get better. Having better skills, I guess, being fitter."

- NZPA