Coetzee plays mind games ahead of Wallabies clash

Springboks coach Allister Coetzee has seemingly begun playing mental games ahead of the test against the Wallabies this weekend.

Coetzee said that Australia should have finished off the job against the All Blacks in Dunedin after leading with three minutes remaining.

Coetzee's men managed to defeat Argentina at home and away and will be confident of claiming a third consecutive victory in this year's Rugby Championship campaign. 

Australia has lost both tests against the All Blacks but did show signs of improvement in the second half of the first test and in their narrow 35-29 defeat in the second tests against the 3-time World Champions.

"To not to have won that one, I don't know how it slipped away in the last three minutes when you get so close to winning a Test," Coetzee told Canberra Times.

"They recovered well and to put themselves in a position to win it, you should win it.

"If you look at the first Test and you take the mistakes out of that first Test, every single mistake they made they got punished.

"We always knew despite the Super Rugby performances, this is a good Australian side. Take 50 players from Australia and put them together, you'll still have a world-class team out there."

Coetzee did however praise Wallabies' inside centre Kurtley Beale as well as the "unbelievable form" of full-back Israel Folau.

"Kurtley Beale is an exceptional player," Coetzee said.

"He's one of those world-class players and he will always have a massive impact in any game because he's a skilful player. He reads space very well, he's got all the skill sets to distribute, to be able to kick and read and he's a good reader of the game. He has a massive influence on the Wallabies' attack at this time.

"Folau is in unbelievable form, he's a top quality player. Will Genia seems to have hit his straps now as well. They've got really quality backs and a pack that can lay a foundation for them."

Coetzee also commented on South Africa's struggles last season, as well as his own.

"It was tough," Coetzee said. "Fortunately I'm still around and have gone through that; not a learning curve but a difficult period.

"It's a good team environment at the moment. Players are really happy, they know where they stand and they know their roles and responsibilities."