Skipper Phil Waugh believes NSW have the form, depth and 15-man game to defy history and become the first Australian team to taste Super rugby play-off success overseas.

Waugh, who played in gut-wrenching final losses to the Crusaders in 2005 and 2008, felt the 2010-model Waratahs stacked up more than favourably and was excited about their prospects of upsetting the second-placed Stormers in Cape Town.

Despite the absences of key Wallabies forwards Benn Robinson and Wycliff Palu, NSW boarded a flight for South Africa on Sunday morning with high hopes.

"I think the depth in the squad is right up there," Waugh said.

"To be performing as well as we are with some of our world class players out it's very pleasing."

Agreeing with Waugh was former coach Ewen McKenzie who argued the hard-nosed Waratahs had the game tailor-made for sudden-death rugby and experience in key areas.

Big bonus-point wins over the Chiefs and Hurricanes in two do-or-die matches have propelled the Waratahs to third and boosted their confidence.

While NSW have made a habit of grinding teams into the dirt, Waugh is most pleased by how the talented Waratahs backline have clicked together to add an extra dimension that will be needed against the best defensive team in the competition.

"The way they're handling the ball and finding space on the field is very exciting," he said.

"It's exciting to play with and hopefully we get the same opportunities over there."

Showing the magnitude of their task on Sunday morning (AEST) at Newlands, only four times (from 28 finals matches) in the 15-season history of Super rugby has a team won a play-off on foreign soil.

Among the 4-24 record is a 0-6 success rate by Australian sides, with NSW and the Brumbies losing three each in New Zealand.

The Waratahs' meeting with the Stormers, who clinched second place and a home semi-final with a 38-10 win over the second-string Bulls, stands as the first time an Australian side has travelled to South Africa for a knockout clash.

But the visitors can be heartened by the fact Queensland did win back-to-back Super 10 titles in 1994 and 1995 in Johannesburg and Durban in the last days of the amateur era.

NSW were completely outplayed 27-6 by the Stormers in their round two encounter in February but coach Chris Hickey believes they learnt a major lesson and had since evolved into a far better team.

"We're probably quite a different side to what we were then," he said.

"It was one of those games where we felt afterwards that we probably didn't turn up with the right attitude to play.

"We probably had a tendency to go into our shell a little bit in the early rounds and that confidence and self-belief only develops through games together, so I'd say we're much stronger in that regard."

The Stormers have conceded a miserly 13 points per game this season but the Waratahs have shown they can create tries through the boot with all four five-pointers against the Hurricanes coming off attacking kicks.

"I think the kicking option gives you another key to try and open up that defensive wall," Hickey said.

"It's another strategy we can use to try and unlock defences."

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