Friday 23 October 2015 15:27, UK
Former Australia skipper Nathan Sharpe believes the best is yet to come from the Wallabies at the Rugby World Cup.
Sharpe was impressed by Australia's 'outstanding' win over England as they dumped the hosts out of the tournament, but Michael Cheika's men were brought down to earth last weekend when they required a controversial late penalty to snatch a one-point win over Scotland.
With free-scoring Argentina averaging more than five tries a game, Sharpe told World Cup Agenda that Australia need to be on top of their game in Sunday's semi-final at Twickenham if they are to progress to a fourth World Cup final.
"That performance against England was outstanding and I know it broke a lot of English hearts but since then I haven't seen a performance from the Wallabies that I'm overly confident with," said Sharpe, who won 116 caps for the Wallabies.
"They fought and scrapped really hard against Wales, which really showed the fabric of their character. They held the line and supported each other, which was great because you need that in a World Cup, but they were a bit flat against Scotland.
"I'm not sure whether they got led into that false sense of security, playing Scotland in a quarter-final and everyone saying that was the easiest path. This week I'm expecting a pretty big performance from the Australians."
It was most outstanding performance I've ever seen from a rugby team.
Argentina have been in free-scoring form at this World Cup, averaging over five tries per game, and they ran out convincing 44-20 winners over Ireland last weekend.
"A lot of people were telling me Ireland would win, but I don't think people have had a lot of exposure to Argentina in the northern hemisphere," said Sharpe.
"We see them in the southern hemisphere and they've been getting better with each year.
"They like to have a bit of flair and to back themselves. I was talking to a couple of Argentinian guys the other day and they genuinely think they have a chance of winning the World Cup."
He continued: "They're a confident team and that's the way they've got to play. This game is a tricky one for Australia because Argentina are so unconventional in their breakdown skills and the way they attack.
"If they have a night where everything sticks, Australia are in for a hard game. But sometimes the Argentinians can be a little bit off and if those passes aren't sticking they can go to water.
"Australia need to start really strongly and snuff the light out quickly."
Sharpe is backing Australia to prevail on Sunday and that could mean a first World Cup final meeting with Bledisloe rivals New Zealand, who face South Africa in the last four at Twickenham on Saturday.
The All Blacks were the standout performers in the quarter-finals, running in nine tries in a 49-point demolition of France, and Sharpe believes the Springboks will struggle to compete with the World Cup holders if they maintain that form.
"It was most outstanding performance I've ever seen from a rugby team," he said. "I've played against France in Paris and put 55 points on them, but the next they put 20 points on us; it doesn't make sense with France.
"What you can say is the All Blacks' intensity lifted up three cogs from the pool stages, and you can see what it means to their senior players.
"That intensity and intent shows me how hard they're going to be against the Springboks. They're not going to execute like that every week, where everything sticks and Julian Savea runs over four people to score a try.
"Although it hurts me to say it, I don't think anyone in the world can beat them if they're on their game. The only chance the Springboks have got is if the All Blacks are five per cent off the top of their game."
