All Blacks coach Graham Henry still rates South Africa as his side's toughest rugby venue away from home.

The All Blacks leave Auckland early on Friday for their penultimate Tri-Nations Test, against the Springboks in Cape Town on August 16.

In the four-and-a-half years that Henry has been at the helm, New Zealand have amassed similar records on the road against the Springboks and the Wallabies of two wins and three losses.

Henry said the Springboks on home turf represented "a major, major, major hurdle".

It is magnified this time around by the fact that almost half his 26-strong tour party have not played a Test there.

"It's the most difficult place that New Zealand teams have played in the history of the game," he said.

"The All Blacks over the last few years have been among the best in the world at times, and they've struggled. That shows the magnitude of the task."

Henry said being at sea level would be a help, as would the scheduling that allowed the All Blacks to arrive in the country eight days before the match.

A key issue would be whether the All Blacks could get the superiority up front that they managed in their comprehensive 39-10 defeat of the Wallabies in Auckland last weekend.

That would dictate whether they could reprise their highly effective gameplan at Eden Park of kicking for territory before launching attacks.

However, Henry said the Springboks had the best lineout in world rugby, while their scrum was better than Australia's.

"When you have dominance at set piece you can control field position and that's what we did," he said.

"If you don't get dominance at set piece, which could be the case against South Africa, then you have to use the ball that's kicked to you, otherwise you don't use the ball at all."

Henry said the choice of Isaia Toeava as a tour replacement for injured fullback Leon Macdonald was based on Toeava's utility value.

Toeava, 22, had an in-and-out Super 14 for the Blues this year and had not been in line to add to his 15 caps until now.

Henry said in Toeava's favour was that he had been operating at fullback for Auckland, had experienced Test rugby in South Africa and could also cover centre and wing.

Along with MacDonald, who is recovering from another bout of concussion, winger Rudi Wulf, who has a sprained knee, is also not travelling.

Henry said there were no injury concerns in the tour party itself, with halfbacks Andy Ellis and Jimmy Cowan "in good shape".

Both Ellis and Cowan played, and were injured, in the defeat to the Wallabies in Sydney on July 26.

Ellis, who took a blow to the ribs, missed the return Test in Auckland, but Cowan overcame his knee injury to start and produce a star performance.

New Zealand, who sit top of the table but have played one game more than both their rivals, are seeking their fifth consecutive Tri-Nations title.

Their final Test in the tournament is against the Wallabies in Brisbane next month.

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