Much is the competitive nature of the Tri-Nations that even the slightest slip up can cost a team victory - which is why the Springboks are making sure they've got every detail covered says captain John Smit.

With two commanding victories from two starts under their belts in this year's tournament, the world champions look to be the team to beat. But their skipper has made it clear that it's only through hard graft that the trend will continue.

"I think it's fair to say that all three teams in this tournament can beat each other on any given Saturday and it's going to come down to who can close out those close games," said Smit in Cape Town on Tuesday ahead Saturday's Test against Australia.

"The margins are so small between the teams that it's very easy to get a few things wrong and the result doesn't go your way.

"You might get things 90 per cent right in terms of what you thought you needed to do and miss ten percent... and that's enough for both of these team to beat you."

While pundits all over the world were singing the praises of the Springbok line-out for dominating their All Black counterparts, Smit and his side were doing their homework to make their set piece even better.

"Last weekend we lost two line-outs on our own ball which is not really something we would like to make a habit of," explained Smit.

"We spend a lot of time each week making sure we know the team we're playing against.

"At this afternoon's line-outs practice we'll be addressing how we want to compete against [Australia's] line-out. There's a lot of work that gets put into that and this week we've got to start all over again.

"We had an opportunity against the All Blacks when we played them two weeks in a row which makes life easier from a preparation point of view.

"But we haven't had a crack at the Wallabies for quite some time and I'm sure they're going to bring a few surprise packages - it's a little tougher to decipher what they're going to bring."


PLANET RUGBY