Naas puts the boot into All Blacks' test hopes

DURBAN - Former South African great Naas Botha believes the All Blacks lack the killer instinct.

Botha said New Zealand's last-minute 16-14 loss to Australia in Sydney on Saturday confirmed thoughts he had held for some time - that the All Blacks struggle to keep their noses in front in tight games.

And that could be in South Africa's favour in the Tri-Nations clash at King's Park, Durban, on Sunday.

"The thing that worries me slightly is that when New Zealand have got into the crunch games lately - and it's not only last Saturday - they're not winning them," Botha said.

"On Saturday they could have so easily closed down Australia, but they didn't."

Botha, who played at first five-eighths, was pleased the result handed South Africa an outside chance to win the Tri-Nations.

He said the young Springboks would have learned a lot from their competitive test losses in Wellington and Brisbane last month.

More confident about a New Zealand win was another legendary player, former All Black fullback Don Clarke, although he remained cautious.

"I believe New Zealand can do it, but I've got great respect for South African rugby," he said.

"They've had their down years, like all teams, so it's great to see them coming back well.

"I think they're on the right path."

- NZPA