Scotland wing Sean Lamont admits his side were punished for their own mistakes against South Africa, and knows full well the Wallabies are capable of doing the same next weekend.
The Springboks romped to a comfortable 28-0 victory in Edinburgh as the hosts slipped up too many times on a greasy Murrayfield pitch on Sunday.
Lamont says the Scots must forget the shocking display before facing Australia in their final autumn Test on Saturday.
“Going into the game we were full of confidence and we knew what we had to do,” Lamont said.
“But we gave away too many scores and too many quick scores.
“South Africa are ranked second in the world and you can’t do that against any team, never mind the top sides in the international game.
“It was frustrating towards the end and we were trying to force things a little bit.
“But we just need to move on and hope to make amends in our Test next week.”
There was less than five minutes on the clock when Willem Alberts ran off a line-out to barge the `Boks ahead while Ruaridh Jackson was criminally negligent as he popped a misplaced pass into the grasp of Willie Le Roux, allowing the fullback to dart in for the try from halfway.
Le Roux then made the most of another Scottish error from the restart to boot a clever kick across field for JP Pietersen to slide over in the corner, while another Jackson mistake killed off a promising Scottish move and saw them driven back 70 yards before conceding again from another line-out drive, this time with prop Coenie Oosthuizen scoring.
South Africa are due to face the Scots in the pool stage of the 2015 World Cup when it is staged south of the border.
Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer was adamant Sunday’s exercise was still useful, despite the overwhelming margin of victory.
“You always know what to expect from Scotland,” he said.
“They’re very physical, they kept on going. We had to work hard to stop their drives.
“But it’s more of a question of focusing on our game. I really thought we made a big step up, especially in these conditions.”
