Former Wallabies great Mark Ella holds little hope of Australia causing an upset in South Africa this month - but says if they are to have any chance of toppling the world champions, Dan Vickerman must start to help fix the team's lineout woes.
Vickerman has come off the bench for Australia the past two weeks with coach Robbie Deans wary not to overload the Cape Town-born lock on his return from ankle surgery.
But with the Wallabies lineout nothing short of atrocious in their 39-10 loss to the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday, Ella said Australia would need Vickerman from the get-go if they were any chance of defeating the Springboks when they play two Tri Nations Tests in South Africa later this month.
"I think Deans has got no choice now, he's got to throw him in there," said Ella.
"We've got one of the best lineout exponents in the world, in Dan Vickerman, he's been injured and came on as a replacement ... (but) we've got to obviously shore that up, because the South Africans are fairly good in the lineout with Victor Matfield, so we've got to get our basics right."
Usually considered superior to the All Blacks in the set piece, Australia lost a mind-numbing eight lineouts throws at Eden Park, with Vickerman ending up the side's top jumper.
The loss leaves Australia likely needing to upset the Springboks in either Durban on August 23 or Johannesburg the following week to be in with a chance of claiming the Tri Nations for the first time since 2001.
The All Blacks, who now top the standings, one point ahead of the Wallabies, take on South Africa in Cape Town on August 16.
Despite Australia's resurgence under Deans this season, Ella rates New Zealand the far more likely of the two teams to cause an upset in the republic - a country in which Australia have not won since 2000.
"It will be tough and I'm not saying they can do it, but they've got probably more chance of defeating the Springboks than the Wallabies," Ella said.
"It'll be a horror trip (for the Wallabies), there's no doubt about it.
"Just going on past history, as much as we're bad in New Zealand, we're probably worse in South Africa.
The Wallabies remain hopeful injured duo Adam Ashley-Cooper (broken hand) and flanker Rocky Elsom (foot) will both be available to tour, with the players not returning to the training track until next week, before departing for Africa on August 15.
Elsom's absence was particularly felt on Saturday, with the Wallabies' poor lineout helping contribute to a dire 27 turnovers.
New Zealand's forward domination also made for an unhappy night for young scrum half Luke Burgess and flyhalf Matt Giteau.
Burgess had excelled behind a strong pack in his first five Tests for the Wallabies, but Ella claimed Saturday's performance perhaps showed he was struggling with the pace of international rugby.
"I think Burgess came on to the scene with a great hullabaloo. I think he's played reasonably well. I think he's probably a little bit off the pace at the moment," Ella told Sydney radio 2KY.
"He's only a young guy, and I guess like everybody, when the forwards are doing well, you look okay.
"But what we want our players to do is, under pressure, they've got to rise to the occasion, and I think Luke Burgess was probably missing a little bit and it probably reflected on the way Matt played.
"(Giteau) didn't get a lot of good ball, the opposition flankers were on him almost immediately, and as usual, you try to overplay your game, some of his kicking was poor, and it just wasn't up to the mark."
