Wallabies desperately need win to regain some pride

CAPE TOWN: They've been beaten and imagined eating one another - so when will the Wallabies be loved?

A win against the Springboks in the opening Tri-Nations test in Pretoria tomorrow would certainly be a good place to start rekindling some warm feelings.

As the Wallabies' South African trip winds down, the good news - and how they need it - is that a victory on a ground where they've never won, in front of the Republic's most passionate fans, would do much to remedy what has been a public relations disaster.

The 17-day stay has been full of controversy, starting with questions about why the Australians were shacking up at sea level when the two tests were on the highveld.

There was the nightclub incident that resulted in Matt Henjak being sent home and Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and Matt Dunning fined and reprimanded for staying out until 4am two days before last weekend's humbling Mandela Plate test loss in Johannesburg.

Questions were posed about a management cover-up over the matter.

South African media, already irked at tightly-restricted access to the Wallabies, then relished the discovery of a Wallaby team bonding game where players discussed eating team-mates' body parts in a survival situation.

The loss last weekend and the Henjak affair have left coach Eddie Jones admitting it's been the most difficult lead-up to a test since he took over in 2001.

And his heavy training sessions and four starting team changes suggest a coach unhappy with what's happened on and off the field.

"I think it [the pressure] is pretty high, which good teams cope with," Jones said. "We've felt the brunt of what was a serious transgression by us. We've got to own up to it. I think we have and now we get on with it."

Yet a win tomorrow would be something special and would ensure last Sunday's loss, if not the indiscretions, would be forgotten.

This is the ground where the Springboks pulped Australia by a record 61-22 in 1997, leading to coach Greg Smith's axing. It's also where Bok captain John Smit admits the crowd is like having a 16th man on the field for the home team.

The lineout again looms as the key after the Australians struggled last weekend. Lock Victor Matfield stole a vital ball at Ellis Park with the Springboks down to 13 men and the Australians on the attack, one of four consecutive lineout losses for the Wallabies.

Jones is looking to Dan Vickerman - in for Mark Chisholm - to turn things around, along with Nathan Sharpe and John Roe, who comes into blindside flanker in place of Rocky Elsom.

Jones will back his ball runners again - after they coughed up two intercept tries last weekend - and if their catch-and-pass game lifts a cog with Morgan Turinui introduced at centre, they should prove more damaging against the much-improved Bok backline.

The South Africans, who have made three changes from last weekend, won't have Nelson Mandela in their corner this week, and need to keep up the remarkable intensity they showed in Johannesburg.

Smit said half the battle was realising exactly how keyed up the Australians would be for this match.

* Pretoria, 12.50am Sunday NZ time

South Africa
Percy Montgomery
Breyton Paulse
Jaque Fourie
Jean De Villiers
Bryan Habana
Andre Pretorius
Fourie du Preez
Jacques Cronje
Juan Smith
Joe van Niekerk
Victor Matfield
Bakkies Botha
CJ van der Linde
John Smit (c)
G. Steenkamp

Reserves: Gary Botha, Lawrence Sephaka/Eddie Andrews, Albert van den Berg, Schalk Burger, Ricky Januarie, Wayne Julies, Jaco van der Westhuyzen.

Australia
Chris Latham
Wendell Sailor
Morgan Turinui
Matt Giteau
Lote Tuqiri
Stephen Larkham
George Gregan (c)
David Lyons
George Smith
John Roe
Nathan Sharpe
Dan Vickerman
Mat Dunning
Jeremy Paul
Bill Young


Reserves: Stephen Moore, Al Baxter, Mark Chisholm, Phil Waugh, Chris Whitaker, Stirling Mortlock, Drew Mitchell.

- AAP