The Australians will look to break a record that is quite simply in a word “ugly” as Robbie Deans and Rocky Elsom take their team to the famed South African Highveld, arguably world rugby’s most inhospitable rugby terrain at altitude.
The next two matches will decide who claims the Tri Nations runners up berth and wooden spoon, now that the rampant All Blacks have claimed their 10th title.
It will be crucial as both teams will look to score invaluable psychological points against the other, for while the two teams are on the same side of the 2011 Rugby World Cup draw, if either team is shocked in the pool stages (Wallabies by Ireland, Springboks by Wales) then they will likely meet at the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.
For the Wallabies though, there is the matter of some silverware, with the Mandela Plate able to be reclaimed if they can win in either Pretoria or Bloemfontein.
But an overbearing piece of history will have to be reversed.
Few if any international coaches and their teams can boast of success against South Africa, let alone in the Republic.
Rebels coach Rod Macqueen can boast of five wins from eight tests against the Springboks, but it wasn’t until towards the end of his tenure that he managed to beat them on their own turf.
That match, at Kings Park in Durban on 26th August 2000, saw the Wallabies take down the Springboks (breaking a five match losing streak in the process) by the barest of margins, winning 19-18.
It was ironically another Rebel, in Stirling Mortlock, that was largely responsible for that memorable win.
Mortlock, playing on the wing, bagged four penalties and a conversion as he engaged in a kicking duel with Springbok Braam van Straaten.
Interestingly, the only other active member of that Wallabies team ten years ago still active in Australian rugby is Sam Cordingley, another Rebel who will no doubt toast a beer with Macqueen and Mortlock hoping to inspire the current side to a famous win.
Overall the Wallabies have won just eight of 37 matches in South Africa, and in the last eight years have won just once, when Australia won 27-15 in Durban on 23rd August 2008.
Once again Rebels’ recruit Mortlock was at the forefront, captaining the side as well as scoring a magnificent try.
The first test will be at Loftus Versfeld, where the Wallabies have lost all four test matches there. Of all the venues that one would want to try and record a rare victory at, Pretoria this weekend is probably the one colosseum that the Australians would prefer to not visit, considering it is local hero Victor Matfield’s 100th test match.
The Wallabies conceded the most points in their proud history at the ground in 1997, going down 61-22 which was Australian test coach Greg Smith’s last match in charge before the Rebels own Rod Macqueen took the reins of the national team.
The second test next weekend will take place at Bloemfontein, where the Wallabies have won only once from three tests there, with their solitary triumph occurring way back in 1933.
That game, the end of a five test series (the first Wallabies tour of South Africa) saw the Wallabies win their final game to finish a credible 2-3.
Fullback Alexander Ross – who was the first Wallabies captain to hoist the Bledisloe Cup in 1934 – captained the side to that famous win 77 years ago, and the Wallabies will hope that they can draw some inspiration from the “Ross of Gibraltar’s” famous team to beat the Springboks this weekend.