Boks have to find extra gears if they are to end their eight-year losing streak in New Zealand

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee says the recent British and Irish Lions series in New Zealand provided pointers on how to douse the All Black attacking flames.

The Lions prevented the All Blacks from scoring a try in their 24-21 second test win in Wellington on July 1 and limited the free-scoring All Blacks to five tries in the three match series.

They have returned to their try-scoring regularity with 17 tries in three Rugby Championship matches but have conceded 10.

The Boks have scored 11 and conceded six in their two wins and a draw against Argentina and Australia respectively.

“The British and Irish Lions were defensively strong and if you look at how the All Blacks attack in terms of their ball carriers‚ they really ran hard‚" Cotzee said.

"They come at you and you have to stop the momentum.

"This game is always going to be about momentum and if you don't stop the momentum and win the gain line battle‚ they will punish you.

“If they have a three vs three‚ you have to stop it otherwise you'll sit with a five vs two eventually‚ then it becomes a picking off and an easy game.

"The British Lions were very good at shutting that down but you have to be able to scramble as well because there's always the attacking kick coming in and you have to deal with that.

"There's the patience of having to get rid of the ball when you're under pressure but you have to get rid of the ball under your own terms.

"In that second test‚ the Lions did that well.

"You consistently have to keep the focus and the attention consistently up against the All Blacks.”

Due to the Boks having beaten the All Blacks only twice in South Africa in the past seven years and with no win in the Land of the Long White Cloud since 2009‚ the All Blacks are always favourites against their Southern Hemisphere rivals.

It will be the first meeting of the teams at the North Harbour Stadium in Albany as the New Zealand Rugby Union seeks to spread the test matches around the North and the South Island.

Coetzee is happy with the progress his charges have made this year but knows they have to find extra gears if they are to end their eight-year losing streak in New Zealand.

“I'm really happy with just how hard we've worked as a team and the intensity at which we've been playing.

"There's also a bit of balance in terms of how we want to play the game even though there are areas we could be more accurate at.

"If you're not accurate‚ you will be punished because the patience of the All Blacks and the discipline to which they want to play is a massive challenge.

"So we really have to be careful in the grey area of the game and whether to run and to kick.

“We've worked on a few things and I'm happy to see the players are making better decisions now.

"You can only make decisions when you have the options and your work rate creates that in terms of options and width.

"I'm pleased with the progress that we've made.” - TimesLIVE