Frustrated and annoyed, the Wallabies are itching for another crack at South Africa and believe the holy grail of a win at altitude is achievable in Bloemfontein this weekend.

Still stinging after Saturday's 44-31 capitulation to the Springboks in Pretoria after making a perfect start to the match, Australia say they have already shown they have the winning game-plan if they can just hang onto the ball.

They will yet again be seeking a first win at altitude in South Africa since 1963 at Vodacom Park on Saturday (0100 Sunday AEST).

"It's frustration and I'm pretty sure everyone's pissed off and I hope everyone's pissed off," lock Nathan Sharpe said as the side headed into camp near Durban.

"The feeling in the team is it is very well achievable, the goal of winning on the highveld, and that's what we want to do this weekend.

"We've got to shelve the disappointment and make it work for us in terms of even greater motivation but we can't compromise ourselves and get a terrific start like that then not capitalise on it."

Some blunt messages are expected to be delivered this week after captain Rocky Elsom told the side to toughen up immediately after the Loftus Versfeld match, and the usually tight-lipped skipper was continuing the straight talking on Sunday.

"We don't like losing and we lost so it's very hard to take," he said.

"Obviously we didn't win the match and we're annoyed about that but it's important just to focus on what's going to help us, not necessarily trying to fix every single thing."

Elsom said winning possession would be the focus in the lead-up to the Mandela Trophy decider.

"On both of our set pieces we didn't perform in the way we wanted to, our drilling wasn't up to where it should be and we were below our best, which is pretty hard to take given that we've had a bit of time to prepare for this," Elsom said.

"We can't really have that volatility because it's not as if we're playing some of the lesser sides in the world."

But Elsom is adamant the Wallabies have the game-plan to topple the Boks after a 30-13 win in Brisbane and the near miss in Pretoria.

"If it wasn't clear before it's very clear now that our game-plan and the patterns that we run work for us, they absolutely do and what we need to do is support that by providing a stable platform for it," he said.

Crucially for the struggling Wallabies lineout, Sharpe (ankle) will be right for Bloemfontein but Scott Higginbotham (back) is hoping to return in the following week's clash with the All Blacks in Sydney.

With a long injury list, changes are unlikely to the 22, although benchmen Stephen Moore, James Slipper and Ben McCalman could all be considered for promotion to the starting XV.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP