The Wallabies forwards were bashed and embarrassed in a shocking loss to South Africa last weekend and are determined to repair their dented pride.

Argentina makes no secret of its plans to use its scrum to squash the Wallabies' attacking flair in Perth on Saturday night.

Pumas prop Marcos Ayerza even said Argentina would prefer a pushover scrum try than ''20 phases of fancy game'' in reference to the Wallabies' bid to play ''the Australian way''.

But McKenzie says the Wallabies are prepared to muscle up against a monster Argentina pack and win their first game of the Rugby Championship. ''Scrummaging isn't about weight, it's about technique,'' McKenzie said.

''In the end [Argentina] is a good scrum, culturally the scrum has been a very important part of Argentina rugby.

''They always take a lot of pride in that area and this won't be any different. There are no easy scrums … Guess what, if you get your head shoved up your bum a few times it's a good way to learn, so it's a good learning experience.''

The Wallabies will turn to 2005 Australian under-21s leadership duo Ben Mowen and Adam Ashley-Cooper to change the team's fortunes. Mowen and Ashley-Cooper were captain and vice-captain respectively of the under-21s team eight years ago and resume the same roles in Perth.

McKenzie has the worst record after three games out of any Australian coach since before Bob Dwyer took the reins in 1982.

A loss to the Pumas would be disastrous for Australian rugby. Australia hasn't lost to Argentina since 1997 but three defeats with McKenzie in charge and a 2-1 series loss to the British and Irish Lions has shattered the Wallabies' confidence.

Every Wallabies coach since 1982 has won at least two games in their first four Tests.

But former Test skipper John Eales said the Wallabies' slump wasn't reason to panic.

''It's always a challenge when you have a new coach come in, they always have their own way of doing things so it can take a bit of time to get used to,'' Eales said.

''It's a challenging time. It's never a time to panic, you just have to look and say, 'what's the next step'.

''Sometimes we're not going to get immediate results … you have to understand what you want to achieve and measure yourself against that.''

Ashley-Cooper said the Wallabies had made ''subtle changes'' to their game plan.

''We've got our backs against the wall this week and the job is to respond and respond with a winning attitude to get a result,'' Ashley-Cooper said.

''There's always pressure for selection. With guys pushing for spots it's creating a competitive environment and we need to be competitive against each other before we do it against the best in the world.''