Ox Nche, who earned his 50th Test cap in Saturday's 33-26 win over the All Blacks at DHL Stadium, says the Boks are bracing for another hard contest when the series moves to FNB Stadium in Soweto on 5 September.
"It's going to be massive and we hope it will be sold out," said Nche. "It's going to be a huge occasion, and a challenge for both teams."
The loosehead reflected on the significance of the milestone, singling out a high school coach who had given up family time to run holiday gym and field sessions. "From him to all the coaches who have been involved in my life over the years, it's amazing. I just wanted to make them proud and keep going."
On the performance in Cape Town, Nche was measured. "We played and defended very well. I feel like we could have done better in attack and taken a few more chances, and we didn't look after the ball as well as we could have. But the result is what matters."
He acknowledged the All Blacks will recalibrate, drawing a pointed parallel with the Boks' own response after losing the first Test. "They're probably feeling now the way we felt last weekend, and they will obviously come back better, so it's our responsibility to keep improving and capitalise on our chances."
The squad flew back to Johannesburg on Sunday morning and will use Monday as a recovery day before returning to training. Kickoff at FNB Stadium — capacity in excess of 80,000 — is at 17h10, live on SuperSport.