Wallabies not bothered by Boks

CAPE TOWN – Countering South Africa’s strength in the set-pieces and physicality around the field is key to Australia’s chances in Saturday’s Tri-Nations test in Cape Town, Wallabies flanker George Smith said.

‘We’ve done a lot of work on making sure we are competitive on our own set-piece and disrupt their ball as much as possible. Set-pieces are the Springboks’ strength, along with their physicality,’ Smith told reporters on Monday.World champions South Africa have beaten New Zealand twice in successive weekends, following up a 28-19 win in Bloemfontein with a 31-19 victory in Durban on Saturday.’The Springboks do have a good balance of senior players and players coming through and we know we’re going to have to play particularly well to beat them. And that’s why we came to Cape Town early,’ added Smith, the most capped loose forward ever with 100 caps.The Wallabies, beaten 22-16 by the All Blacks in their opening Tri-Nations game on July 18, arrived in Cape Town on Friday and will announce their team on Thursday. Smith said the Springboks faced an interesting dilemma once flanker Schalk Burger returned from suspension.Burger, whose eight-week ban for making contact with the eye of British and Irish Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald in the second test in Pretoria, ends on Aug. 23, will be available for South Africa’s away matches in the Tri-Nations.Burger has been replaced by Heinrich Brussow, who has made a sensational start to his test career in the openside fetcher role Smith himself made famous.’Schalk Burger brings a lot of that physicality and he’s good around the field too, spotting gaps and making good defensive plays,’ said Smith. ‘He inspires his team and it will be interesting to see what the South African selectors do when a player of his ability comes back.’Things seem to be working for the Springboks with Heinrich in that position, so it will be an interesting decision for them.’ – Nampa-Reuters