The Chiefs loose forward was hoping to earn a starting spot against the Sharks in Durban, but was stunned when All Blacks coach Dave Rennie named him skipper for Wednesday morning's match.

"I think just a huge privilege. I'm pretty taken back by it. I certainly didn't think it would be an opportunity, but just really excited," Jacobson said.

In keeping with Rennie's desire to make the announcement a surprise, Jacobson found out he was captain at the same time as the rest of the team.

"We were in the huddle naming the team and I hadn't got any heads up, so I looked like a bit of a stunned mullet there, but it was a cool way to find out.

"Obviously it's something that I've just got to take with both hands. Just really humbled."

Jacobson said he was determined not to let the added responsibility distract him from his own performance against the Sharks.

"Looking forward to getting out there, to be honest. I'm trying not to think about it too deeply. I'll probably take the time after the game to just, yeah, appreciate it."

The match will be the All Blacks' second game of their South African tour, following a 38-21 win over the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.

The All Blacks had some impressive moments on attack against the Stormers but their scrum struggled as they gave away several penalties and the forwards didn't get anywhere near the dominance they would have wanted.

The side named to face the Sharks is closer to a potential test team as the All Blacks build towards their first test against South Africa in Johannesburg on 23 August.

Jacobson said Wednesday's game in Durban gives the All Blacks a chance to tidy up some things they didn't get right in their opening match.

"It's an awesome challenge, an awesome opportunity for us to really dial in on maybe some things that didn't go as well for us in the last game," Jacobson said.

"We know how the South African teams play, they know their game, they've got their mauls, their scrums. There's going to be up front battles, so we're going to have to be ready to play that."

The All Blacks copped three yellow cards against the Stormers and also struggled to deal with the home side's consistent high kicks.

Jacobson is expecting another aerial bombardment from the Sharks and said the All Blacks are seeking to produce a better performance than in their tour opener.

"I thought there were some lessons [from the Stormers game] and it was a great taste of what we were going to get on this tour. I think we've made some good adjustments.

"The top level of South African rugby has a really good kicking game, a really good chasing game. I don't think we're going to get anything different to what we saw last week in that area."

Rain is also forecast for the match, but Jacobson said the All Blacks would not abandon their attacking intent because of the conditions.

"It's just a huge onus on the individual skill set and backing yourself. We're professional athletes; this is what we're trained for," Jacobson said.

"We back ourselves to be able to perform under any conditions."

The All Blacks match against the Sharks kicks off at 5am Wednesday morning (NZT) in Durban.