The Springboks are quietly confident heading into Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks in Paris, but they are also expecting nothing less than a tightly contested and physical affair.

The Boks are the defending champions after winning in Japan four years ago, however, by their own admission they were lucky back then as the goal was always to win the title in France.

The good news is that the hooker, Bongi Mbonambi, could be named in the team on Thusday morning despite the ongoing World Rugby investigation into the racial slur incident against England.

The Springbok flanker, Kwagga Smith, said that it took a lot of hard work to reach this point and this is the big one, while it's also important to maintain the repect between these two great rugby playing nations.

“This is the match that counts. We know it will be an epic battle and the forward battle is going to be tough, but we are looking forward to the challenge.

“We don't play for people to respect us, we play for each other and we play for South Africa, so they can be proud of us.

“For me, I have been playing against the All Blacks since I played at under-20 level against them when Ardie Savea played for them and then I played sevens against them and now 15's also.

“Like we said, there's a lot of respect between each other and we know we are going to bring out the best in each other.

“For me, playing against the All Blacks is just an honour. I know it's going to be physical but it gets me up and I am excited for that.”

The Springboks and the All Blacks name their respective teams on Thursday.

Saturday’s grand finale at Stade de France in Paris kicks off at 21:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport