Johannesburg - Springbok assistant coach Dick Muir has backed wing Bryan Habana to recover from his recent slump in form in the near future.

According to the allblacks.com website, the former IRB Player of the Year has endured a wretched run of form in 2010, with his only tries coming for the world champions in twin Tests against Italy.

He has failed to score for the Springboks in their following six games, including the entire Tri-Nations, while crucial errors against New Zealand and Australia in the last two weeks gifted tries to the opponents.

Coach Peter de Villiers resisted calls to axe him for this week's match against Australia in Bloemfontein, however, and Muir backed the decision.

"All great players have these spells where they lose form," the backs coach said. "Bryan has set the bar very high, so we probably notice it more.

"He's one of the most dedicated players and he's working hard to get back to his best, so I'm not overly concerned about his form."

After scoring against the Italians in June, Habana moved level with Joost van der Westhuizen as the country's most prolific try-scorer - with a total of 38 scores.

He has failed to make the record his own since then, but Muir does not believe the pressure is getting to him.

He continued: "I don't think breaking the try-scoring record is having any effect on him. He's bigger than that and he plays for the team.

"I've encouraged Bryan to come off his wing and look for work, and he'll be rewarded. If he makes one glaring mistake, everyone jumps to conclusions that he's off form.

"That's the business we're in - we get criticised. It's about being bigger than that and working hard to rectify it."

Muir said they were expecting a different approach from the Wallabies this week, but was confident the hosts were fully prepared.

He added: "We are expecting the Aussies to be more direct.

"If you look at the selection changes they have made, they want to muscle up and be a little more physical.

"We want to see steady improvement and certainly from where we started to where we are at now there has been an improvement.

"When you eventually get a result there is a sense of relief but it is about performance and we are all working very hard towards the World Cup and that's the ultimate goal for us."

Teams:

South Africa:

15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon

Australia:

15. Kurtley Beale, 14. James O’Connor, 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12. Matt Giteau, 11. Drew Mitchell, 10. Quade Cooper, 9. Will Genia, 8. Ben McCalman, 7. David Pocock, 6. Rocky Elsom (captain), 5. Nathan Sharpe, 4. Mark Chisholm, 3. Salesi Ma’afu, 2. Stephen Moore, 1. Benn Robinson           

Substitutes: 16. Saia Fainga’a, 17. James Slipper, 18. Dean Mumm, 19. Richard Brown20. Luke Burgess, 21. Berrick Barnes, 22. Anthony Fainga’a         

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)