Boks and Wallabies say history means nothing

South Africa have not beaten Australia since August 2010 but both sides agree past performance will not decide Sunday's Rugby World Cup 2011 knockout quarter-final at Wellington Regional Stadium.

Springbok captain John Smit made a half-hearted attempt to claim underdog status when he agreed at a press conference on Monday that Australia could legitimately feel they have a mental edge going into the knockout match after the Wallabies were victorious at their last three meetings.

But he was quick to add it was not a view held by his team.

"We'll want to face the game as a fresh start in terms of where we want to go over the next few weeks. So it's two different mindsets, I suppose," Smit said.

The wily Springbok captain, who held aloft the Webb Ellis Cup in 2007, also did his best to fan the fear of the unknown in young Wallaby minds, saying South Africa had been there and done that before at a World Cup.

"We'll see which teams can use their individual experience of playing in play-off rugby to the best of their ability, making sure that you take in the heat as much as possible and yet remain composed in terms of what you want to achieve," Smit said.

"Game plans will differ according to the opposition you're playing and according to the weather conditions you've got. There are going to be so many factors that come into play and I think we're fortunate that we do have a few guys who've seen a few scenarios played out before in the last decade."

Wallaby captain James Horwill, while seven years younger than Smit and almost 80 tests behind him in experience, is level headed enough to also know that past performance is just that.

"You can't read too much into what's happened in the past. The World Cup is a different kettle of fish to other types of football," he told a press conference on Monday.

He said playing a knockout match won't be any different for the RWC 2011 Wallabies because after losing unexpectedly to Ireland, they've had to approach their past two pool matches as knockouts.

Australia coaching co-ordinator David Nucifora said he expected Sunday's match to go down to the wire and the winner could be decided in the blink of an eye.

"The team that loses concentration for a split second on the weekend are going to be the teams that are going home. I don't think it'll come down to much more than that," Nucifora said.

"There'll be one or two opportunities to win this game on Sunday and the teams that are up for it and ready to take those chances will be the ones that'll be staying."