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Wellington - South Africa lock Victor Matfield feels certain where 'neutral' New Zealanders' sympathies will lie when the Springboks clash with Australia in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final.
"I think they will be cheering for us," Matfield told reporters on Saturday as the world champions made their final preparations for Sunday's match.
The Wallabies have joked that the massive support enjoyed by their pool rivals including Ireland and the United States was boosted by locals hopeful of seeing their bitter trans-Tasman rivals come unstuck.
"It's the first time that I've been walking around New Zealand that people have been saying 'good luck' or 'I hope you do well'," Matfield said.
"I think we will be the favourites (for the neutrals) this week. I think they hate the Aussies more than they hate us," he added with a grin.
The winner will meet either hosts New Zealand or Argentina in the semi-finals next week.
Sunday's match will be the teams' third World Cup meeting, with the Springboks winning in pool play in 1995 and the Wallabies winning their 1999 semi-final.
On both occasions, the winning team went on to lift the Webb Ellis trophy and Sunday's encounter promises a game of contrasting styles and directions.
The young Wallabies side have many players who will still be around for the next edition in 2015, though the vastly experienced Springboks, who boast 11 players from the 2007 squad in their starting lineup, are likely to have several retirements after the tournament.
The Wallabies' backline, sparked by scrumhalf Will Genia and the enigmatic flyhalf Quade Cooper, has also helped the Australians win five of their last six encounters against the Springboks, though Matfield was dismissive of that record.
"Everything that happens in the past is in the past," Matfield said.
"It's all about the 80 minutes tomorrow, to focus on things we need to get right for tomorrow, get it right and if we do that I think we have a really great chance of winning that game."
The Wallabies are the Tri-Nations champions, though no team that has won that title has won the World Cup in the same year.
"We're world champions so that's pressure as well," said Matfield. "It's all about handling that pressure, taking it into the game and using it to your advantage by getting energy from that."
