The side has landed in Johannesburg where it will stay for the next two days before transferring on Friday to Port Elizabeth to play the Kings on Sunday morning (NZ time).
Inside back Marty Banks said from South Africa yesterday the team was ready to put on a good effort against the Kings and stay in contention for the playoffs.
"There is no complacency issue around with not having the All Blacks. There is a new leadership group with the team and they are setting the standards for the team,'' Banks said.
"We want to put in a good performance and be in a good place when they [All Blacks] come back in.''
All Black loose forward Liam Squire and first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga have travelled to South Africa, leaving Dunedin on Sunday after coming off the bench for the All Blacks against Wales on Saturday night. They arrived in Johannesburg yesterday.
Five All Blacks - Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Waisake Naholo, Malakai Fekitoa and Elliot Dixon - remained in Dunedin and will travel to Argentina for the game against the Jaguares on July 10.
Highlanders assistant coach Tony Brown said no decision has been made on whether Sopoaga or Squire would start.
The team is due to named tomorrow afternoon.
The team did not transfer to Port Elizabeth straight away as the coaching team wanted to break up the travel.
Brown said travelling straight after the June international break was something the team had calculated a long time ago.
"It is what it is. At the start of the year we knew it was coming and so we tried to put a plan in place to play. We have been training hard for these next two games and we're sticking to the plan.''
He said the side had an impressive week of training after coming back together on June 13 and then prepared well and played well in the 40-12 win over the Crusaders in Oamaru last Thursday.
"We had a really good training week in preparation for the game against the Crusaders and we had a few question marks going into the game, around the nines, a new midfield with a couple of new blokes there ... the conditions were poor but I thought we played well and put the Crusaders to the sword.''
New halfbacks Te Aihe Toma and Jamie Booth have been picked for the tour and Brown said the duo had played well in the Crusaders game.
"We probably know about as much about them as you guys. But they have been really good for our group. With Fumi [Tanaka] picking up a calf injury and Aaron always going to miss this game those guys have the chance to step up.
"Te Aihe has a similar style to Aaron in that he is quick to the breakdown and gets round the field.''
Brown said the side was not worrying too much about the Kings and was concentrating on its own game this week.
Pacy winger Tevita Li is reportedly heading to the Highlanders.
Radio Sport reported late yesterday the 21-year-old winger from the Blues has signed for the southern franchise for next year.
Li (21) is an extremely quick winger who first played first-class rugby while still at high school.
He was a star for the New Zealand under-20 side last year and has been a regular for the Blues this season. He plays on the left wing.
However, with plenty of wing talent in the north he may want to try his luck down south.
Outside backs Waisake Naholo and Malakai Fekitoa both left the Blues to play for the Highlanders and subsequently made the All Blacks.