Allrighty then, we are looking ahead to Saturday's game with some bemusement here in the Republic, more so at the AUS media who seem to have nothing better to do than whine about this so-called B-squad. The B-squad only has two uncapped players anyway, so what's the fuss? In fact, we only rested about nine guys, the other 11 are injured and, surely, we are allowed to pick who we want. There won't be one new cap on the field Saturday, so be quiet now, it's getting long in the tooth.

Rather concentrate, for example, on the cracking game the Wallabies played last Saturday. Tenacious, dedicated, clinical when it needed to be - now THAT's worth discussing ad nauseum. Sure, the AB's suffered a lack of concentration, we did the same in Durban and this is an Australian team that has proven, twice, that it will play till the very end. NZ and SA can do well to take a leaf out of the Australian handbook of never say die.

Anyway, on to this Saturday - a rather strong Bok team (if you manage to remove the media mud from your eyes) and a rather tenacious Wallaby side, high on confidence. It is going to be a cracking match gentlemen, I expect the Boks to come out firing, for Aus to weather the storm and score first (against the run of play). After that both sides will calm down. Midfield battle is going to be immense with both Bok centres, Murray and Olivier, having a lot to prove and will have their hands full against a very impressive Australian midfiend outfit. I expect the Wallabies to break the line a few times... our cover defense should hold them though.

As for the forward battle. For some reason we are always under the impression that the Australian pack is suspect.. well, suspect they may be, but not nearly as poor as we think. If we remain calm, drive it up and sap their energy, we should gain the upper hand in the last 20 minutes (remember the Wallabies had a tough game last week, so tired legs should become a factor late in the game). Trick for us would be to play the full 80, or 90, whatever. I expect Hougaard to do a fair amount of kicking - which is fine, if we are kicking with a purpose and not just hammering the ball down the centre of the field.

Watch out for strong running from Murray, Pietersen, Olivier on occasion and, of course, Pienaar - who will cast a long shadow over Gregan.

All in all it is going to be one helluva contest but I'll give it to the Boks by five. 27-22. To do this though, we will need to remain calm, concentrate until the final whistle and contain the Aus midfield.

I think we can... we must.