Star Wallabies playmaker Matt Giteau says that he will shoulder the responsibility of returning the Tri-Nations trophy to Australia, admitting that his kicking game will be vital to Australia's hopes in Cape Town on Saturday.


The 26-year-old conceded he struggled with the boot in Australia's loss to New Zealand last month, but was confident of returning to his best to boost the Wallabies' Tri-Nations and Bledisloe rugby campaigns.


"The kicking game is an area where we definitely have to dominate if we're going to beat South Africa,'' Giteau told RugbyHeaven.


"I think when we last beat South Africa in Durban, that was off the back of a good kicking game. We were able to put pressure on them inside their 22 and turn that pressure into points."


"Whereas the next week the kicking game wasn't as good and we were punished for it," added Giteau


"I think that goes to show the importance of a good kicking game and how even a slight difference can have a massive effect on the result. Just the small things like getting good kicks away and applying the pressure changes a game.


"We need to be able to keep them in their own half. Execution is key. And if you don't execute well, like in New Zealand, you pay for it in the back end of the game.''


The Springboks are currently ranked as the number one team in the world and are also regarded as the most physical and intimidating team after disposing of the British and Irish Lions last month.


But Giteau says the Aussies won't be running scared.


"They've developed a strong side over the last 12 months, but so have we,'' he said.


"Physically, we need to be up to the challenge, and I think we are. They're the best team in the world at the moment and we respect that.


"But we're not scared. If we can execute better than we did in New Zealand and can match them at the breakdown, we're a great chance.


"We certainly feel we can beat the South Africans. This is my eighth season with the Wallabies and I'd rate this as probably the best-prepared team in years. There's a lot of talent and self-belief here.''


The Wallabies have not held the Tri-Nations trophy aloft since 2001.


And while it pains him to say it, Giteau said the side's loss to New Zealand last month could be the catalyst for returning the trophy to Australia.


"Sometimes you can learn more from a loss than you can a win, and I think if we had have scraped away with the win in Auckland and still have played as poorly as we did, that we might have come away thinking we were doing better than we actually were,'' he said.


"It was a bit of a reality check for us. It's given us a chance to focus on different aspects of our game and I'm confident we're much better for it.


"We're far and away ahead of where we were this time last year.


"When we played New Zealand last year we went over there and got flogged. You have to look at the progress we've made in 12 months.


"There's a tremendous amount of self-belief but at the same time we're not over confident. We believe in our own abilities and we are starting to get more familiar with how we want to play as a side and how Robbie (coach Robbie Deans) encourages us to play.


"But we're under no false illusions - we know South Africa are going to be tough. They're number one in the world for a reason.''

PLANET RUGBY