Opposition ... Wallaby Nathan Sharpe could tackle Victor Matfield in lineout of the World Cup quarter-final.
THE Springboks' Bakkies Botha says who plays in the second row for the Wallabies - not who will wear the No.12 jumper - is the greatest concern to his side, having predicted Nathan Sharpe will be ushered into Australia's starting line-up to do battle with Victor Matfield.
Botha and Matfield will combine for just the third time this tournament in Sunday's quarter-final, and both believe the lineout is where the match will be most fiercely fought.
''I think they'll put Sharpie in this weekend and try to play against Victor because we know Victor is the best lineout lock in world rugby and he pushes himself to new limits and new heights,'' Botha said yesterday.
''The lineout is a key element in their [Australia's] game, specific lineouts and scrums - the set-piece, definitely. You can't play a good Test match if you haven't got a pack that dominates physically. Definitely they've picked up [their physicality up front in the past few years] and this weekend coming, it's going to be a physical battle. Dan [Vickerman] is definitely a good lock as well. He's one of the top locks around. We're not holding back one inch.''
Matfield said he was not taking solace from Ireland's dominance of Australia's pack last month, explaining Vickerman and Sharpe were two of the most feared Wallabies.
''Australia's lineout is very good, we don't know who they are going to pick - they have two tall locks who know how to run a lineout,'' he said.
''Scrum time, they were under pressure against Ireland but when they played us they were pretty solid. So again, it's very important and those are things we will focus on this week and hopefully we can put them under pressure in those areas.
''I think if you go back [to the Ireland game] they had [David] Pocock out, they had Digby Ioane out - two very big players for them.''
The second-rower disregarded suggestions from the Wallabies that Sunday would be different to a Tri Nations match, insisting the Australians would still need to win the battle up front to win the match.
And while he said the Springboks wouldn't copy Ireland's tactics of keeping the Australian forwards on their feet, he admitted they had studied the Wallabies' weak points.
''We spoke this morning and we said to each other that we know what works for us and we analysed a lot of games about Australia and we talked to each other and we know what to do and, especially at this stage of the tournament, we know not to change too many things.
''Ireland and Australia was a tough match and the guys all led differently from the front. It was a small margin,'' he said.
Meanwhile, playmaker Morne Steyn is confident his long-range goalkicking, in place of injured fullback Frans Steyn, will be up to scratch in Wellington this weekend.
''I have slotted goals from my own 10 metre line,'' he said. ''That's at Pretoria, not at sea level. So the halfway [line], maybe one or two metres on the side of halfway is my range.
''I think Wellington is the hardest place for a kicker to come and play. There's a strange wind coming in there that swirls. For me, it's not always nice to play here.''
