The All Blacks will name their 44-man touring squad for the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series against the Springboks on Monday, expanding from the 34 players who have carried Dave Rennie's side through an unbeaten July.
New Zealand finished the Nations Championship's southern hemisphere block with wins over France, Italy and Ireland, the last of those a 40-21 statement at Eden Park that stretched the ground's unbeaten run to 53 Tests.
The squad for the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series will be revealed at midday New Zealand time on Monday, with Rennie and a group of the selected players fronting media in Auckland that afternoon.
Former captain Scott Barrett will not be part of the touring party after back surgery, while lock Fabian Holland is tracking towards inclusion pending an appearance for Otago before the group is finalised.
New Zealand media has speculated over a genuine bolter claiming one of the extra ten places, though nothing is confirmed until the squad actually drops.
All Blacks know what to expect in Rugby's Greatest Rivalry
Mike Blair, who joined Rennie's coaching staff in June, has already sized up the scale of what awaits in South Africa.
"There'll be, I'm not too sure, 80-ish of management and players and stuff, and it'll be literally us against the rest of South Africa, so we'll have to be tight," the attack coach said.
Rennie has been similarly direct about the standard of the opposition.
"It's a different beast, South Africa, aren't they?" he said of the world's top-ranked side, pointing to the strength in depth they have shown throughout the competition.
The Springboks, whose own touring squad was confirmed earlier this week, went through the same Nations Championship block unbeaten too, outscoring England, Scotland and Wales by 130 points to 49.
New Zealand's tour opens against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium on 7 August, before dates with the Sharks and Bulls the following fortnight and a midweek clash with the Lions in Johannesburg on 25 August, wedged between the first two Tests.
The first of four Tests against the Springboks follows at Ellis Park on 22 August, with the series running through Cape Town and Johannesburg again before a fourth and final Test in Baltimore on 12 September.
It will be the All Blacks' first full tour of South Africa since 1996.
