Wobbly finishes will cost a World Cup

Furious Wallabies halfback Nick Phipps says 70 minutes of gallant, quality rugby isn’t good enough, and certainly won’t make them a World Cup contender next year.

Phipps is lamenting a wasted opportunity at Newlands on the weekend, wilting in the last 10 minutes as South Africa flexed its muscles for a 28-10 Rugby Championship win.

As impressive as the spirited Australians were for the bulk of the match, it faded into insignificance due to conceding three late Springbok tries.

“It’s frustrating,” Phipps told AAP. “We did a lot of good work and then we just unravelled in the last 10 minutes.

“No one is going to remember the good work we did out there, everyone’s just going to remember that last 10 to 15 minutes.

“That last 10 minutes we have to be better than that.

“Especially going into next year, they’re the 10 minutes that win you a World Cup.”

Australia have been drawn into the pool of death at the tournament in England, in 12 months time, facing cut-throat matches against England and Wales that traditionally go down to the wire.

Phipps is also kicking himself for throwing a loose, forward pass, just after the Boks took their 11-10 lead, which was immediately punished with a try on counter-attack to Jean de Villiers.

“I’m really furious at myself,” he said. “I’m furious because you feel like you let the boys down.

“When they kicked that drop goal it didn’t faze me, I knew we would get another chance.

“There were plenty of chances there so it’s bring on Argentina, that’s all I can say.”

The Wallabies will spend Sunday and Monday making their way from Cape Town to Buenos Aires, a 24-hour trip which includes three flights.

They managed it effectively last year, bouncing back from a 28-8 thumping at Newlands with a 54-17 thrashing of the Pumas in Rosario.

This year they play in Mendoza and will travel the western wine region midweek.

“They will be gunning for us,” said Phipps, who is keeping Will Genia and Nic White at bay.

“The good thing is we have 24 hours to travel and we have 10 laptops in the team so we’ll be working pretty hard (reviewing the loss to South Africa) on the plane.

“The boys are angry about it so knowing the character of the players in the team they’ll be bouncing back and working hard.”

Giant lock Will Skelton and Queensland No.8 Jake Schatz will join them in South America as Rob Simmons (head knock) is in doubt and Ben McCalman (shoulder) has been ruled out.

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