All Blacks veteran lock Sam Whitelock says the onus is on the players to produce the goods in the Rugby Championship Test against South Africa at Nelspruit on Saturday.
Whitelock said that coming off their 1-2 series loss to Ireland, it fell on the players to go out and perform.
"It doesn't matter who is coaching us, it comes down to how we perform on the field. We've got to perform for 80-plus minutes. It's not about performing for periods of the game. We've got to be consistent right across the board. Through set-piece, round the field, breakdown, defence etc.
In the wake of the lost series to Ireland, the All Blacks were looking to improve. And that was the same whether they won, lost or drew games.
"At the moment we do know there are some areas we need to be better at. Conceding a couple of maul tries is the obvious one for me as a tight forward. That is a key area I am focusing on and making sure we can get better."
Whitelock said the Springboks will play to their strengths. "But in saying that, you never want to go in there and think you have their game plan in your head. They're smart guys. They've got a number of guys who play around the world and different styles they can go to.
"That's something for us to make sure that we can stop their plan A, and from that, if they change it, then we've got to be able to stop that as well.
"That's the beauty of rugby, sometimes you go out there, and you know how they are going to play. It's just stopping it, that's the major one.
"That's the cool thing about the challenge of playing against South Africa, the old foe as such, and it is nice when you get out there to play when you've spent all the time training," he said.