Australian captain George Gregan is hopeful the team’s extended preparations in Johannesburg will help end their poor away record in the Tri-Nations when they play South Africa on Saturday.
Australia have not won an away match in the competition since 2001 and are without a victory at the high-altitude Ellis Park since 1963.
”You need to play a bit better when you’re away from home because your preparations can be a bit disrupted, but it’s been very settled this week,” Gregan told reporters on Friday.
”We’ve been in Johannesburg since last Friday and the players have acclimatised well, so it’s been a very positive step.”
In previous years, the Wallabies have been based on the coast before travelling up to altitude the day before the game.
”Ellis Park is like the spiritual centre of South African rugby and because they won last week for the first time in a number of weeks, they will have their tails up,” said Gregan.
”We want to compete hard in terms of the physical aspects, because it is a collision sport, but we still need to balance that with skill and finesse.”
South Africa beat champions New Zealand 21-20 in Rustenburg last weekend to notch their first win of this year’s competition.
Australia were 20-18 winners when they met the Springboks in Sydney last month.
Australian centre Stirling Mortlock did not train on Friday due to a hamstring strain. — Reuters