Nic White has urged his Wallabies teammates not to drop their guard against a plucky Argentina in Townsville on Saturday, following back-to-back wins over the world Champion Springboks.
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The Brumbies halfback revealed Dave Rennie and his coaching staff have addressed the playing group about the importance of not letting complacency creep in against the Pumas, with light starting to emerge at the end of a Wallabies tunnel after two stellar performances against South Africa followed three losses to New Zealand.
Rennie has called on Reece Hodge to play fullback, covering for Brumby Tom Banks who broke his arm against the Springboks last weekend.
"It's something we've spoken about that two good performances doesn't make up for a couple of years of bad ones," White said.
"No short memories that we did have two draws with the Argies last year, they're a very good side. We know very well how hard it is to play the All Blacks.
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"We've got the utmost respect for [Argentina] and we're going to have to be at our best in order to get results.
"A lot of hard work went into those results against South Africa, but if we think that that's just going to set up another win, we're dreaming.
"We've continued to work hard this week, we'll continue to work on our game, we need to get better. There's plenty of parts of our game we think we can get better.
"If we're not on again this weekend, the Argies are a good enough side that they can hurt you so we know we're in for it again this weekend."
Flanker Sean McMahon has taken Rennie's mantra a step further, after having ETW tattooed on his body as a constant reminder to "earn the weekend".
The 27-year-old is pushing his case for selection this weekend after recently returning to Australia from Japan, following in the footsteps of Samu Kerevi who also plies his trade in the Asian country.
"He's mad. . .he understands the amount of work that has to be put to earn a couple of orange juices at the end of the week," Kerevi said.
"He doesn't care what jersey he has on or who you are. He's kind of like a raging bull - awesome to have on the team, but you'd never want to play against him."
McMahon last played for Australia in 2017 and has watched as part of the extended squad for the last fortnight as the side twice dismantled world champions South Africa.
Their first back-to-back wins since 2019 pushed them from seventh to third in the world.
Meanwhile, key lock Lood de Jager has returned to South Africa's side for their Rugby Championship clash with New Zealand in neutral Townsville on Saturday.
De Jager missed the 30-17 defeat by Australia last weekend as he completed concussion protocols and his return will boost their line-out proficiency and ability from the rolling maul.
Kwagga Smith moves from the bench to the flank to replace Franco Mostert, who is usually a lock but has been filling in on the side of the scrum with a long-term injury to Pieter-Steph du Toit. Explosive winger Cheslin Kolbe is still out of action with a leg injury.
With AAP