Smit focused on bigger picture

RUGBY TRI-NATIONS South Africa v Australia:JOHN SMIT is not getting carried away with South Africa's good start to the Tri-Nations and insists his side "haven't really done anything yet" ahead of this afternoon's clash with Australia in Cape Town.

The Springboks lead the table following two wins from their two games, both coming against New Zealand, while the Wallabies lost their only game to the All Blacks in Auckland.

Smit and his team were the pre-tournament favourites and their gradual improvement in form has now led to even more talk of a first title since 2004.

"Everyone outside of our team has put our name on that cup already," he told a press conference yesterday. "We haven't really done anything yet except for the norm. It's expected that you have to win your home games. We're far from saying anything about the series yet. You only start to claim for the title when you get on that plane. It's how you travel that really matters."

Smit, who will play his 87th match in the green and gold, feels the Australians will offer a different proposition in comparison to New Zealand and warned his side to be fully prepared.

"What we can expect on Saturday is what we have been getting from Australia for the last couple of seasons," he said. "It will be a tough Test match which could go either way.

"The Australians have different strengths to other teams. They have good players, they prepare well, they do their homework and they dissect South African rugby a little better than most.

"They have ideas on how to play us and how to play around us. They engineer their preparation a bit better than most teams."

The Sharks frontrower is also wary of the threat posed by the entire Australian unit, who he believes are packed with a good mix of youth and experience.

"Australia have a number of stalwarts, but if I have to single out there are a couple of guys. We were talking about George (Smith) the other day and in those 100 Tests we can't remember when he had a bad game. He is just so consistent.

"You can put Stirling (Mortlock) in the same bracket. Around that pair they also have a number of quality players.

"Under Robbie (Deans) they have emphasised the all-round effort and evolved, so we can expect what we've got from them in the last couple of years - and more."

Wallabies coach Deans named his side yesterday with only one slight surprise as Peter Hynes replaces Phil Waugh on the bench.

Deans thinks playing against the world champions is motivation enough for his troops. "It's a fantastic task coming up against the top-ranked side in the world at Newlands," he said. "It's one of the best venues in the game and these blokes love these occasions.

"It's an opportunity for us and the boys are in a good frame of mind. They're showing good heart.

"There's a good clarity around what we are doing and a high level of enthusiasm."

While Australia have not won in Cape Town since 1992, the squad features 13 of the players who participated in last year's 27-15 win over the Springboks in Durban.

The Australians have come close on previous visits to the ground, going down 22-19 in 2007 and 26-22 in 2003, and Deans knows the unpredictable weather patterns in the city could have an impact on the final outcome.

"The conditions can have an impact here in Cape Town. You can have a fair bit of wind or a serious downpour," he said.

"So it will be all about making decisions in real time that serve the team best."

The tournament takes a break after this week and resumes on August 22nd, when injured New Zealand captain Richie McCaw hopes to face Australia in Sydney.

While several of his international team-mates are turning out for their provinces this weekend, with more due back next weekend, McCaw is looking to shake off a nerve problem in his neck ahead of the make-or-break showdown with the Wallabies.

The All Blacks skipper revealed he suffered the problem in the first Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein but played through it in the second loss to the Springboks in Durban last weekend.

"It's given me a bit of grief, so this week is about getting that right," the openside flanker said. "We're going to have a yarn next week (with regards to playing provincial rugby). It's important I get it right. That's the reason I'm not playing this weekend and may not play next weekend."

McCaw remains adamant that there was no confusion about the attacking game-plan they adopted against the Springboks, but conceded they had tried to play too much rugby in their own half and that their basic skills had let them down.

"We wanted to play a game where we moved their big fellas around but it didn't work like that because we were making mistakes and we weren't getting good enough set-piece ball.

"Early on there were a few opportunities and, had we taken them, it might have changed the game," he said. "But if you look at the risk versus reward maybe that wasn't quite right early in the game.

"It might have been something you do as the game goes on.

"But in terms of the way we approached the game, I thought we had it reasonably spot on.

"There were definitely opportunities we didn't take through simple errors. Some of the decisions we made were actually good, it was just a case of executing and that just comes down to guys making sure they get it right."

SOUTH AFRICA:F Steyn; JP Pietersen, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana; M Steyn, F du Preez; T Mtawarira, B du Plessis, J Smit, B Botha, V Matfield, H Brussow, J Smith, P Spies. Replacements: C Ralepelle, J du Plessis, A Bekker, D Rossouw, E Januarie, R Pienaar, A Jacobs.

AUSTRALIA:Adam Ashley-Cooper; Lachie Turner, Stirling Mortlock (capt), Berrick Barnes, Drew Mitchell; Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Al Baxter, James Horwill, Nathan Sharpe, Richard Brown, George Smith, Wycliff Palu. Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander, Dean Mumm, David Pocock, Will Genia, Peter Hynes, James O'Connor.

Venue:

Newlands Stadium

Kick-off:

4pm, today

On TV:

Sky Sports 3