South Africa promised on Monday to bounce back from a record 49-0 drubbing by the Wallabies and fight to win this week’s Tri-Nations clash.
The Springboks were humiliated two weeks ago when they failed to score against Australia in Brisbane and now sit at the bottom of the table.
But assistant coach Gert Smal said the team were undaunted by the prospect of facing John Connolly’s men again on Saturday.
”For the last two years we have beaten the Wallabies more than we’ve lost against them so from that point of view also we feel confident,” he said.
The Springboks hold a 6-4 advantage over Australia in their last 10 Tests but have won only one of those matches on Australian soil.
The Wallabies thumped the Springboks by a record margin in Brisbane a fortnight ago, and put in a spirited performance against the All Blacks at the weekend.
They narrowly failed to keep the Bledisloe Cup series alive and went down 13-9, with Kiwi winger Joe Rokocoko scoring the only try of a fiercely-contested international.
But fellow assistant coach Allister Coetzee said Australia had weaknesses which the Springboks aimed to exploit.
”There’s always weaknesses that you try to isolate,” he said.
”You play sometimes to their strengths where they don’t expect it and sometimes you play to their weaknesses as well.”
He admitted the Springboks were embarrassed by the huge defeat a fortnight ago, but said they had not given up.
”Absolutely. I think it was very disappointing, very, very, very, very disappointing,” he told reporters.
”What one would like to see is the individuals stand up to show what they’re made of,” he added.
”That’s probably the beauty of the game, it gives from the one week to the next week, from the one game to the next game to make amends.”
”We’re not here to fill out numbers, we’re here to win the competition,” he said. – Sapa-AFP