Rugby: Battle for second heats up

Matt Giteau's Wallabies play South Africa on Sunday. Photo / NZ Herald

Wallabies centre Matt Giteau says the battle for second in the Tri-Nations series will be the furthest thing from players' minds during the Test against South Africa.

New Zealand wrapped up the series with the 29-22 win over the Springboks in Soweto, leaving the Wallabies and South Africa to battle over the scraps in Pretoria this Saturday (0100 Sunday AEST).

"When you're playing for your country, you're going to give everything you can," Giteau told reporters in Cape Town.

"I don't think either side will go out there (thinking) that the Tri-Nations is dead and play a softer style of football.

"There's a lot at stake ... it's a game that we desperately want to win so I'm sure the intensity will be right up and no one will be taking it easy on anyone else."

Australia downed the Boks 30-13 in Brisbane last month but have never won at Loftus Versfeld, while their last win on the South African highveld came in 1963.

Giteau, though, has tasted victory in Pretoria with both the Western Force and Brumbies in Super rugby.

"It gave a lot of confidence, me personally, to win there," he said of the venue, which is 1,330m above sea level.

"The biggest thing for us that day was we executed our game-plan the best that we could and we hung in there and played the full 80 minutes.

"That's honestly I think how we won those two games."

Hot property Quade Cooper, who is weighing up an offer from NRL club Parramatta, returns for the Wallabies from a two-game suspension, meaning Giteau will switch back to inside centre.

Coach Robbie Deans, who helped Australia break an eight-year drought in the Republic during his first year at the helm in 2008, said the match was important to the Wallabies' build-up to next year's Rugby World Cup.

"As is always the case, there's a lot more than meets the eye but first and foremost it's a Test match," he said.

"That will become part of the bigger picture but it's the only thing that matters in the first instance."

- AAP