South Africa's Malcolm Marx is regarded by most as the best hooker in world rugby, but All Blacks centre Ryan Crotty wouldn't swap Codie Taylor for anyone.
The battle between respective rakes will be a must-see matchup when South Africa hosts New Zealand in the final Rugby Championship test of 2018, in Pretoria on Sunday (NZT).
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Marx exploded onto the world scene in the corresponding fixture last year when the Springboks almost ran down a tiring All Blacks side in Cape Town, eventually losing by one point (25-24).
Marx earned the man of the match award that day, securing multiple turnovers and running for more metres than any other forward on the park.
The 24-year-old was outstanding for the Lions in Super Rugby and has carried that momentum into the Rugby Championship, starring for South Africa in their 36-34 win over the All Blacks last month in Wellington.
Crotty acknowledged that Marx has been superb in 2018, but noted the outstanding development in Taylor's game since the Lions series in 2017.
"I have seen Codie go to a whole new level this year," Crotty said.
"He was a massive reason why the Crusaders were so successful, especially around the defensive side of the ball.
"He has taken on a leadership role – driving the team defensively. Codie is a very intelligent hooker and I'd take him over Malcolm Marx any day of the week."
Taylor tried to shy away from comparing his game to that of his Springboks counterpart, explaining that it is important not to focus too heavily on the elite skills of your opposite.
"Yeah if the world thinks that I guess he might be (the best in the world)," Taylor said.
"He is a great player and I take my hat off to the way he performs around the field on a consistent basis.
"He is one of their key players. He can build a lot of momentum for them on both attack and defence.
"He is great over the ball - a threat with the ball in hand as well.
"It just means you have to be on your game. You want to perform well yourself, so knowing you are coming up against a great player has its own motivations, but it's important not to get too caught up in all of that because you can bottle yourself into thinking how good he is.
"I just need to focus on playing well myself."
The All Blacks arrived to a confident South Africa still lauding their side for the brave win in Wellington.
The Springboks followed that result up with a comfortable win over the faltering Wallabies last weekend, now turning their intention to securing a second straight All Blacks scalp.
Crotty admitted there is still a level of hurt inside the camp after losing last month but they took a lot away from the result – including what they need to do better on Sunday.
"You only needed to take a look around our changing room and see the hurt and disappointment on our guys' faces," Crotty said.
"We were feeling good being 14-points up and then we let them back in ourselves. Yes they created a bit of pressure, but we let them back into that test.
"We have had a good look at ourselves in how we should have executed better down the stretch, I guess the big learning was that we always believed we would find a way to get the job done and we didn't - which hurts."
South Africa's first win against the Al Blacks in four years re-ignited the countries appetite for beating New Zealand. A succession of poor results, including a 57-0 loss at Albany in 2017, had many pundits noting that the once-great rivalry was dead in the water.
Crotty said that has never been the case inside the All Blacks camp. The loss three weeks ago has added even more intensity to the contest – a contest that Crotty believes is one of the toughest.
"The gloss has never not being there for us," Crotty said.
"They are one of the best test match sides in the world - I think what you are alluding to is something that the media here have put on them.
"We have always respected them as an opponent and it is always a massive challenge when we come up to them.
"South Africa got one over us in Wellington and we are extremely motivated to come here and make it right. We are an immensely competitive group both individually and as a team but yes maybe it does provide a little bit of extra motivation."
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