Stirling Mortlock admits the pain of his side's embarrassing defeat at the hands of the rampant Springboks on Saturday is yet to subside, but the Wallabies skipper remains confident his men can re-group in time for their winner takes all clash with the All Blacks on September 13.
Fortunately for the Wallabies, the 53-8 thumping in Johannesburg had no affect on the Tri Nations ladder meaning the clash with Graham Henry's men in Brisbane will serve as a virtual grand final.
Speaking at Sydney Airport on Monday afternoon, Mortlock conceded his side's inability to back up a solid victory for the second time in the tournament, is a source of great frustration.
But despite the setback the subdued skipper still fancies his side's chances of clinching the Tri Nations for the first time since 2001.
"There's nothing we can do or say that'll change that result, we get an opportunity now to have a few days off and then a real genuine chance to do something special in a week and a half," Mortlock said.
Asked to account for the loss - the heaviest in Wallabies history - Mortlock said simply: "We just caught a red-hot Springboks team."
"No matter what we tried to do they just kept on coming at us and I guess they were desperate and they had nothing to lose and they grew in confidence as the game went on, and we just found it very tough."
"Sometimes the momentum just has a way of going against you and that's what we faced on the weekend."
Forced to defend the Wallabies' tactic of repeatedly kicking possession back to the Springboks, Mortlock conceded the side ran out of answers against the rampant World Champions.
"Our plan is to play what we deem fit at the time so if you've got a brick wall in front of you I don't think it's the right thing to be running into that brick wall," he explained.
"But having said that I don't think we mixed up our game well enough."
"We'll certainly review and analyse things that we can control, how we played, what we did in attack and certainly how we set up in defence."
However, Mortlock conceded his team's positive response to their previous heavy defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, which saw them defeat the Springboks 27-15 in Durban, is reassuring.
"I guess as a group we have proved that we can come back from disappointment so that's one positive thing," he said.
"But certainly at the moment we'll be licking a few wounds and taking this time to reflect and re-energise so that when we get back into camp on Sunday we're ready to go."