South Africa has turned to a New Zealand-born coach in order to beat its breakdown blues ahead of Saturday's Tri Nations clash against Australia.
After three losses in their opening four games of the tournament, the Springboks need to win both their remaining fixtures against the Wallabies with a bonus point to remain in the hunt for the Tri Nations title.
But after losing to the Wallabies in Perth last month because they were consistently being beaten to the breakdown, and a similar scene in their 19-0 shutout against the All Blacks last weekend, the World Champions are prepared for a more structured approach on Saturday.
They also called in Sharks coach John Plumtree, a New Zealander who lives and coaches in South Africa in the Currie Cup, to their training sessions this week to give input into the way the Boks are looking at the breakdown.
"Most teams see our breakdown as a weakness," flanker Juan Smith said.
"George Smith made it very tough for us in Perth. But we've been working very hard at getting numbers to the breakdown. You can't just arrive in ones or twos like we did last week.
"We went through our game plan and specified exactly who is going to be cleaning out. All our guys know the game plan and exactly where we want to play from so I can't say this was the problem last week. But we have placed more emphasis on the specific roles of each player."
Smith added that Plumtree's input had given a new perspective on things.
"Plumtree's had a massive impact since joining the Sharks, and you can see that by how well the Sharks loose forwards have played this season. They've been especially good on the cleanout so we've gained a lot of positive input from Plum."
The Boks will face the Wallabies in a second test next weekend in Johannesburg.
Coach Peter de Villiers is facing growing criticism from an impatient public which has been lamenting the free-flowing game plan the Boks have tried to execute, without much success.
Now on Saturday, with the likes of George Smith and Phil Waugh looming at the breakdown, the Bok loose trio will have to improve in order to secure possession of the ball.
The Boks will face the Wallabies in a second test next weekend in Johannesburg.