All Blacks centre Conrad Smith believes New Zealand has a stronger rivalry with South Africa then they do against Australia, with the two sides set to meet this weekend in the opening World Cup semi-final.

“They are a special opponent and it’s a very special rivalry,” Smith said. “I grew up during the apartheid era, when Australia were the traditional foes, but now South Africa have come back into it and I think it’s got back to where it was and they are our ultimate rival.

“There’s something special about playing them, and playing them in a semi-final will be extra special.

“We have a good relationship with most teams we play, but South Africa have a special respect for the game. That’s why two minutes after the match we are able to shake hands, walk off the pitch and have a chat with them.”

The All Blacks reclaimed undisputed World Cup favouritism with a 62-13 demolition of France in their quarter final in Cardiff, however Smith said the side isn’t looking too much into the result.

“We’ve put a full stop on that win against France and now it is a new week. There’s a bigger task now and you have to come down from that high. We now need to do even better than we did last week,” Smith continued.

“They are always tight match-ups with the Springboks and I’m sure this one will be the same. They’ve been impressive so far and individually they have great players.

The All Blacks beat the Springboks 27-20 in Johannesburg earlier this year, however Smith doesn’t think a similar performance will be good enough to book a spot in the World Cup final.

“Although we beat them in our last outing in the Rugby Championship, we weren’t proud of the way we played. We know we are playing a very good, physical side this weekend.

“Their performances so far suggest they will be better at the set-piece than France, and our defence will have to be on top of their game.”