Coetzee wary of the resourcefulness of Cheika's street-wise pack

The Australian scrum has been rightly maligned over the years and correctly so.

When put under pressure by an reasonable outfit‚ they have folded easily‚ even though their backs have found a way to live with their forward deficiencies.

Saturday's test between South Africa and the Wallabies at the NIB Stadium in Perth will be an indication of how much the Wallabies have improved over the past three weeks.

However‚ Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is not underestimating the resourcefulness of Michael Cheika's street-wise pack. 

After all‚ they have found ways to live on the fringes of the scrum laws. 

They have been a difficult unit to contend with at times and that's what Coetzee is trying to avoid.

“The scrum is an area of the game where you just can't afford to hang in‚" Coetzee said.

"It's not an area where you just want to match. 

"It's an area where you want to dominate. 

"I'm please with where we are at the moment with the scrums but it's going to be a different challenge. 

"We need to continue with the processes that are in place and make sure we don't concede penalties at scrum-time.

“We need to make sure that our disciplines are still there with our processes. 

"Our mauling has improved this year along with our line-out work. 

"We need to keep that intact and the game is still about getting dominance up-front and we have to front up. 

"The nice thing about this pack is that they've got a hard edge to them and they're very mobile.”

The Boks have been very competitive in Australia but the results haven't been forthcoming since the 2013 38-12 evisceration of the Wallabies in Brisbane.

Conditioning and composure denied the Boks wins as they took leads they relinquished in the last 10 minutes.

Coetzee's charges have shown wonderful defensive application and discipline in the last quarter in their five consecutive wins against France and Argentina.

However‚ the Australians showed in their two tests against New Zealand that they're a handful in the last 20 minutes if they're allowed a sniff. 

Coetzee is aware of the danger the Australians pose‚ especially from a broken play perspective‚ while noting how his charges don't take anything for granted.

“We all analyse and the difference doesn't lie in the analysing‚" he said.

"I know what they do and they know what we do. It's a case of who does things quicker and faster and the taking of opportunities. 

"Those are the things that determine the winning of a test match.

“The one pleasing aspect about this team is that you don't need to motivate them much.

"They know what they need to do in that 80 minutes. They know they've got to do the job. 

"They are going to work hard for each other in the 80 minutes. 

"You can't guarantee that you're going to win every game but they understand that the outcome will take care of itself if we take care of our mini-battles.” - TimesLIVE