Jean de Villiers sees the Springboks advancing years as an advantage ahead of his 100th test.
The evergreen midfielder will become just the fifth player to bring up 100 test caps for South Africa during Saturday's Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks in Wellington.
Two of those players, John Smit and Percy Montgomery, have retired, but Bryan Habana and Victor Matfield will run out alongside de Villiers when he achieves his milestone at Westpac Stadium.
The trio's combined experience may well be South Africa's best hope of ending a drought against the All Blacks that dates back to Port Elizabeth three years ago.
''You take the All Blacks who have been at the top for a very long time and at the core of that success has been those guys, those experienced guys,'' de Villiers said yesterday.
''Maybe when you get to an older age you can't perform for 20 weeks in a row at that level, but when push comes to shove, and when you need those guys to perform, they do.
''That's what's important. When it really counts and you need guys to make big decisions and big plays, then it's usually those experienced guys who do that.
"You also need them around to lead and motivate and show the young guys how to do it and when to do it.''
At 33 de Villiers is part of an ageing Springbok team.
The side's two centurions, Matfield, 37, and Habana, 31, were two of six men over the age of 30 in the starting side during last weekend's loss to Australia with hooker Bismarck du Plessis, 30, in the reserves.
In comparison, the All Blacks had just three men south of 30 in their starting XV against Argentina, with Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith (both 32) and captain Richie McCaw 33.
But de Villiers notes it was an ageing Toulon who won the Heineken Cup this year with many former internationals supposedly well past their use by dates.
He believes it would be a mistake for South Africa, or the All Blacks, to discard their older players simply because of their age as the 2015 World Cup approaches.
''I believe a lot of the time we look at age rather than looking at performance. You should be judged purely on how you perform ... if you are good enough you are old enough...
''A lot of the guys said Victor Matfield is 37 years old, how can he ever come back?
On Saturday he showed again how important he's been to this team and in June he did the same. Judge a guy on how he plays, not by his birth certificate.''
De Villiers knows a thing or two about beating the All Blacks having won eight times in 21 tests since his first attempt in Christchurch in 2004.
On that occasion the young wing scored a try 27 seconds into the match, but South Africa lost in the final minutes, thanks to a late try by wing Doug Howlett.
A decade later, de Villiers is convinced if South Africa get their preparation right they can win for the first time on New Zealand soil since September 12, 2009 in Hamilton.
MOST CAPPED SPRINGBOKS
114 - Victor Matfield (2001-)
111 - John Smit (2000-11)
102 - Percy Montgomery (1997-2008)
100 - Bryan Habana (2004-)
99 - Jean de Villiers (2002-)
- The Dominion Post
