With the Freedom Trophy now on the line, All Blacks coach Scott Robertson concedes he needs more from his bench if his side are to have any chance of overturning South Africa in Cape Town.

On Sunday (NZ time), the All Blacks faded in the final 20 minutes in Johannesburg as the Springboks claimed a 31-27 victory at Ellis Park.

Despite a contentious refereeing call putting them on the back foot, the All Blacks held a 27-17 advantage heading into the closing stages.

Ultimately, South Africa’s bench proved to be the decisive factor in getting the Springboks over the line. Man for man, every one of South Africa’s replacements outperformed their opposites.

Given the nature of South Africa’s Super Rugby exodus in 2020, four of the All Blacks’ seven replacements had never played a game in the republic.

When considering the Springboks had the likes of Eben Etzebeth (125 tests) and Malcolm Marx (70 tests) on the bench, South Africa’s experienced heads did the job required of them in overturning the deficit to snatch victory.

And while past All Blacks sides have been able to call on experienced reserves, the class of 2024 are still adjusting to life without those who departed after the last World Cup.

In comparison, Anton Lienert-Brown (75 tests) was the All Blacks’ most experienced player on the bench, but excluding him and Ofa Tu’ungafasi, the rest have accumulated fewer than 60 tests between them.

Speaking after the defeat at Ellis Park, Robertson pinpointed the bench as where the All Blacks needed to improve in Cape Town.

“It’s clear, the one thing they’ve got [is] highly experienced guys who’ve played overseas, guys that have been in the Springbok team for a long period of time, played some big tests,” said Robertson.

“It is an advantage for them. It’s something we’ll consider. Over the last few years, you’ve had a Dane Coles or Sam Whitelock come off the bench.

“That’s part of this group, guys to come on and learn. We’ve got to learn really, really quickly. What an experience it was for them.

“When it’s all considered, it’s part of their strength and DNA, the Springboks. They’ve done it over a period of time.

“But we should have still been better, and still won that game at the end.”

Comparatively, this All Blacks side are in a much different place to their opponents.

Robertson’s side have played only six tests, while South Africa are in their second cycle under Rassie Erasmus, effectively a third when considering his time as assistant to World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber.

Only Robertson himself can tell you if the trade-off of short-term pain for long-term gain will be worth it as they build towards the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

In the short-term, though, tactical changes could begin to fix what wrong at Ellis Park. For starters, Robertson would do well to at the very least consider a 6-2 forwards to backs split on the bench, and at the very least mirror what the Springboks do as a means of reinforcing their starters.

On Sunday, the 5-3 split saw one bench position go to Mark Tele’a, a specialist winger, at a time where every spot in the matchday 23 cannot be wasted.

And with the risk of losing the Freedom Cup outright, and effectively the Rugby Championship with it, Robertson and his selectors will have big decisions to make over the 23 to take the field at DHL Stadium.

“You always look at the squad,” said Robertson. “What’s the best for this weekend?

“You’re mindful you have to win the test in front of you. But also, you’ve got to look long term.

“We’ve got to create opportunities for guys so we’ve got depth in our squad, guys who make impact off the bench; we’ve got to have guys that can play in a couple of positions.

“You do that over this four-year period. You [have to] have guys experienced in different situations.

“There’s lots of things in your mind.”

Dalton Papali’i looms as a contender to come back into the mix for Robertson after missing the Ellis Park loss with a finger injury.

Alex Powell is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.