Morné van den Berg always dreamed of testing himself against the All Blacks

Morné van den Berg faced the All Blacks for the first time in his career last Saturday, and he got to see close up the famous New Zealand attacking machine in Cape Town.

“It was a really cool experience,” Van den Berg told a media conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday ahead of the third Test at Soccer City, with the four-match series level at 1-1.

“Obviously one of the best sides in the world, so to experience that intensity was really good,” he said, pointing out that he was on defence for most of the time.

“My 25 minutes was mostly defence. I think I had like three rucks, we did a very good job to force our structures on [the breakdowns].”

The key to playing New Zealand was sticking to the game plan to subdue them, as opposed to focusing on individual players, like his livewire opposite number, Cam Roigard.

“Cam is a very good player, but then you just refer back to your system. If we are good enough and if we want to get right what we want to get right then he’s going to have a difficult day behind a slow ruck.

“As a scrumhalf it’s really difficult if your pack is going back so for us it’s just to put more pressure on them as a team rather than focus on him as an individual and what he’s capable of.

“It’s more about shutting the All Blacks down.”

Van den Berg said New Zealand attacked more than any side he has faced in a Bok jersey. “They were definitely the side that attacked the most that I’ve played against, but the system is there for a reason so if you stay in the system it’ll protect you and I felt that over the weekend.

“Obviously not perfect at times, but ja, it felt quite comfortable,” added the 28-year-old, who has had his Krappie [Afrikaans for crab] nickname since he was in high school.

Van den Berg is looking forward to playing for the Springboks at Soccer City, where he made his debut for the Lions senior team in 2020.

“Very excited to play [there]. We’ve trained there this week, it’s an absolutely incredible stadium. Also very excited to play a Test in Johannesburg.”

The halfback has never played international rugby in Johannesburg before, having also competed in Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Durban.

Van den Berg is a Johannesburg boytjie through and through, going to Linden High School and growing up as a Lions fan, idolising Ricky Januarie and André Pretorius.

But he also looked up to the All Blacks. “Growing up, Dan Carter was the rock star of rugby back then and they’ve always had these incredible athletes and skills.

“If you’re a kid in South Africa you’re dreaming of playing for the Boks against the All Blacks, so yes, you admire them for their skill and athleticism, but then also like really want to test yourself against them and beat them.”

Van den Berg, who has never been on the losing side in his nine appearances in the green and gold, gets another chance to do that on Saturday.