Lukhanyo Am still searching for mojo as All Black Test approaches

Lukhanyo Am goes into Saturday's Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand in the unfamiliar position of searching for the calling card that has made him a great Springbok – that legendary combo where intuition meets accurate execution.

Great Test careers are built on two things: the ability to do the right thing and doing it at the right time.

Few players have repeatedly got that mix right in their day jobs than Am, whose greatest highlights as a player almost always originated from seeing how things would unfold way before they did in his mind's eye.

But ever since he returned from a knee injury suffered in the first of two Rugby Championship Tests against the Wallabies in Australia last year, Am – who has specialised in seeing the unseen – has seen diminishing returns in his influence for the teams he plays for as he seeks to rediscovers his rhythm.

While he made an assisting pass for one of Kurt-Lee Arendse's hat-trick of tries against Australia in the Boks' tournament opener on Saturday, Am still looked a little out of sorts when it came to the rest of his game, his famous timing a little bit off.

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The All Blacks – a team he has a history of doing well against, be it through scoring against them, putting Arendse away with an off-load from the deck, or creating a Damian de Allende try with a pass around his back – represent an opportunity for him to get his mojo back.

Am admitted that he was in search of the confidence to repeat those ruthless moments he's known for in games. 

"I'm [only] one game in," he began. "I don't really want to look [too] deeply into it, I'm getting another opportunity this week and I really feel like