South Africa coach Russell Domingo has welcomed David Warner’s attempt to pile pressure on spinner Robin Peterson.

Warner described the left-arm finger spinner as someone with a “chip on their shoulder” earlier this week, adding that he would try to take down the 34-year-old given the Proteas’ fast-bowling strength.

Domingo said he was unconcerned about Warner’s pre-match chat, and that intimidating Peterson would be near impossible.

“Robin is mentally one of the toughest cricketers I’ve worked with,” Domingo said of Peterson, who has played 14 Tests in a career that started in 2003.

“A lot of people have always written him off and criticised him for this or that.

“But whenever there’s a big series or a big moment in a game, Robin seems to do something for us – be it with bat or ball.

“He’s had a lot of criticism in his career, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in his ability to deal with those type of comments.”

Domingo implored his charges to continue their low-profile approach to the three-Test series that starts on Wednesday in Centurion.

“We’re fully aware that a lot has been said and we’re fully conscious that we haven’t said much and we like it,” he said.

“We don’t want to be putting more undue pressure on ourselves by talking out of turn or saying too many things.”

Domingo walked a fine line, referring to Australia as a “very abrasive and confident side” before expressing his admiration.

“If they get on top of you they’re very difficult to stop,” he said.

“There’s going to be times that we’re under severe pressure against them.”

South Africa started a two-day sabbatical on Friday, with Domingo more interested in helping Mark Boucher’s rhinoceros preservation charity than monitoring Australia’s intra-squad match in Johannesburg.

“No (we won’t have any) spies. No conspiracy theories or anything like that. We just want to go dart the rhino and have some fun,” he said.