Ox Nche hoping for a better scrum contest in third Test against the All Blacks

South Africa levelled the four-match series with a hard-fought 33-26 win, with the All Blacks keeping it close by being clinical with the chances they were given.

The result restored the Springboks as the No 1 ranked team in the world but there were notable issues at scrum time with several of the set pieces collapsing, especially on the New Zealand put-ins.

New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie blamed the South African pack, claiming they were trying to steal a march by "walking around", a claim strongly disputed by Rassie Erasmus.

Nche came off the bench late in the first half to win his 50th cap for the Springboks on a special occasion for the front ranker but admitted he did not like how the scrums went down on the night.

"As a forward pack, we want scrum completions. The scrum is a contest of two packs and I wasn't too happy. Hopefully there are fewer resets next week and more completions," he said.

"It's all about interpretation. As we all know, rugby has laws. Coaches, referees and players interpret it differently.

"The whole thing is if a forward pack is going forward all together, then they're going forward. We wasted a lot of time in scrums today just because we all had different interpretations."

Reflecting on his 50th cap in Green and Gold, Nche revealed it was quite an emotional day reflecting on how far he'd come.

"Looking back at the journey, I even sent one of my high school coaches a message this afternoon. It was a day about really looking into reflection, to see how far I've come," he said.

"And all the people who believed in me and backed me throughout the years, that's all I wanted to do. I hope to make them proud and just keep going."