After a successful start to his reign as All Blacks head coach, Dave Rennie will face his biggest challenge yet when the All Blacks visit the Springboks at Ellis Park in Saturday's opening Rugby's Greatest Rivalry (RGR) Test.
Barbs have been traded in the press by coaching staff members. All Blacks assistant coach Tana Umaga told New Zealand-based media last week: "It's no surprise how we want to play the game. We want to speed the game up.
"It's very frustrating for us when teams are visibly trying to slow it down.
"That's something we all have to get aligned on: what kind of game we want to play, in terms of globally."
Rassie Erasmus pulled no punches in response, telling media on Monday: "My opinion is New Zealand's played four matches and there's certainly been a narrative out there, which is very technical around the speed of the game and the slowing down of the game.
"You can see on their social media, they are advocating this high-intensity, multiphase game, saying: 'nobody can keep up with us.' They are not hiding it.
"There are always three truths - New Zealand's truth, the world's truth, and our truth. If you look at the last two games against New Zealand in Auckland and in Wellington, were those slow games?
"I mean, New Zealand beat us in the first one [between the sides last year in] Auckland (24-17) and protected their record there.
"Then we got a good one in the second one (winning 43-10 in Wellington). We try to find the balance so that when games become clutch and crunch, that you have a system that you can fall back onto if you need to."
These comments - and others - have only added to the excitement ahead of the first page of a new chapter in the rivalry between two global giants.
The All Blacks began the tour in Cape Town with a 38-21 win over the Stormers and were more convincing in subsequent wins over the Sharks in Durban (54-0) and the Bulls in Pretoria (50-19).
Key details
Date: Saturday, August 22 at 5:10 p.m. CAT (3:10 p.m. GMT, 4:10 p.m. BST, 3:10 a.m. on Sunday, August 23 in Mainland New Zealand)
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
How to watch: The match will air on SuperSport's channels 201 and 211 in South Africa. For fans in New Zealand, Sky Sport holds RGR rights. UK viewers will be able to watch the games on Sky Sports. ESPN will provide coverage of the tour on our platforms. Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU) Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Nika Amashukeli (GRU) TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU) FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
Team news
Ox Nche starts for the Springbok despite injury doubts, but Siya Kolisi misses out. Pieter-Steph du Toit captains the side in his absence.
New Zealand have recently suffered the latest in a long line of injury blows, with prop Ollie Norris sent home with a knee injury and replaced by Saula Ma'u.
Dave Rennie left Beauden Barrett out of his matchday 23, opting for Ruben Love as his starting flyhalf. Handre Pollard misses out for the Springboks, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu the starter at flyhalf and Manie Libbok on the bench.
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok
All Blacks: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa'i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Anton Segner, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Leroy Carter
Stats
Dave Rennie has 6 wins from 6 matches as All Blacks head coach - but only 3 of those have been Test matches, with the others coming against South African franchises on the RGR tour.
South Africa have won 5 of their last 6 matches against the All Blacks - with the only loss coming in Auckland last year en route to the Boks bouncing back and winning the Rugby Championship.
This will be Damian de Allende's 100th Test match.