Boks looking to call the shots
Rather than focus on how the Wallabies will play at Newlands, the Springboks are hoping to impose their gameplan on the visitors.
Bok captain Jean de Villiers said that his team are keeping an open mind about how Australia will approach the match, and have focused more on what they need to do to progress as a side.
"Going into a Test match you expect anything from them because they have got the ability to throw the ball around and they have got fantastic backs that can attack from anywhere but they can keep it tight as well.
"For us preparation-wise it has been about expecting anything and everything. Whatever we do we need to execute well and enforce our gameplan upon them," he said.
De Villiers said that after the disappointment of their loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park, the Boks feel that there are still many areas of their game which can improve.
"We have taken a lot of steps in the right direction over the last couple of months but after the last game's result we also realised that there is a lot of hard work that we need to do.
"The Australian team will be at their best on the weekend, they will come out firing and it will be a massive game for us so we need to improve in all facets of our play and we need to be able to put that together for 80 minutes," he said.
The experienced centre said that although many people are more focused on the match with the All Blacks next week, his team are not looking past the Wallabies and the details they need to get right to win at Newlands.
"We are not looking at next week. I think the biggest mistake we can make is to try and rectify the New Zealand game and try and play that game this week.
"We are playing against a quality Australia team and we need to be flippen good this week to get a good result so that is where our focus is at.
"The reality is that we lost the last game that we played. For us it is about doing the job this week.
"We have spoken about processes and try to reach our goals, but we need to stay in the moment, follow that process and make sure that we take one step at a time and do what is needed to eventually get the result," he said.
De Villiers said that the team feels a responsibility to play to the best of their potential in what will be Morne Steyn and Jannie du Plessis' 50th Test, and added that he had been reflecting on the fact that he may not get many more opportunities to play for the Boks at Newlands himself.
"Two great servants to Springbok rugby and two great players, I think both of them will want to prove a point and I think a lot of credit must go to them for the way that they played the 49 prior to this, for the contribution that they make off the field and just for being great Springboks.
"You don't know how many opportunities you get to play for the Springboks and for me, I don't know how many more opportunities I will get to play at Newlands for the Springboks. This might be my last Test at Newlands so you want to make it special," he said.
By Michael de Vries
