Springboks play down threat of Richie McCaw's return to All Blacks for rugby test
South Africa upbeat, but return of All Blacks captain is threat to chances of victory for hosts
South Africa have played down the impact of New Zealand flanker Richie McCaw's return for Saturday's Rugby Championship decider in Johannesburg.
The Boks also trumpeted their improvement at the breakdown, which is where New Zealand captain McCaw has ruled supreme for years and his recovery from injury is a huge threat to the hosts' chances of victory.
"Richie is one of the all-time best players. We respect him for that, but we're just going to focus on what we want to do," Springbok forwards coach Johan van Graan said.
"This is a Springboks versus All Blacks test and they have 15 world-class players. Sam Cane and Liam Messam played brilliantly in Auckland [when New Zealand beat South Africa on September 14], and even though Richie McCaw is back and is captain again, it won't influence us."
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen confirmed McCaw was over the knee injury that kept him out of the last two tournament victories against the Springboks and Argentina, and would start on Saturday.
Van Graan said the Springboks had shown much improvement in breakdown play, a major factor in seven wins in eight tests this year.