Springboks captain John Smit is absolutely certain there's no such thing as a vulnerable All Blacks side but he's yet to be convinced about rugby's new laws as he gets set for his first taste of the controversial ELVs in Saturday night's Tri Nations opener in Wellington.

Smit made his belated arrival into the capital on Tuesday morning after contesting the French club final where his Clermont side lost to Toulouse.

Still searching for his first victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand, Smit was asked if the All Blacks were vulnerable without Richie McCaw and possibly Ali Williams.

"I can't think ever in my lifetime that the All Blacks have been vulnerable at home, so I wouldn't subscribe to that," he said.

Still, this is something of a personal crusade, a final frontier for a hooker and champion international who has won virtually everything, including the World Cup. So beating the All Blacks in New Zealand would surely be special?

"I would like that; I would like that very much. But I have been here for the last eight years with the Springboks and come close too many times."

To do so, Smit will have to make some major adjustments himself. Having been playing in France since late last year and missing the Super 14, he has yet to experience the ELVs, as has the Boks' No 1 lock Victor Matfield.

Smit admitted he had plenty of homework to do as he got over his long flight.

But he also expressed some serious reservations about the changes being trialled by the IRB.

Like many of the northern sceptics who have yet to see them in practice at a reasonable level, Smit is yet to be convinced.

"They haven't tried to reinvent the wheel for some time and I thought that rugby was pretty good beforehand. I've come from Europe where the old rules are going well and you can't get a seat in any stadium," said Smit.

"It really is a world that I have to experience for the first time on Saturday. After I've had a few tests in it I'll be able to tell you more. But I didn't think it was broken before."

Adding to the puzzle in the Tri-Nations will be two rules not used during the Super 14 - the ability for opponents to lower mauls and also for unlimited numbers at lineouts.

"The one that I'm most interested to see is the pulling down of the maul. It's the one that most concerns me," he said citing possible dangers, particularly at lower levels of the game.

Smith said he was confident he would freshen up for the test and that the travel wouldn't affect him. He'd had only limited time for Clermont over the last two weeks, playing off the bench for the semifinal and final and only getting on in the last quarters.

"I flew business class, I'm feeling a lot better. I'll be fine"

Smit said he believed the Tri-Nations was an even field this year, especially with the ELVs.

Having missed South Africa's last test against Italy he said he was comfortable with the way the side was progressing and admitted they had purposely tried to speed up their second test against Wales, played under the old rules, so that they could ready themselves for the ELVs.