In his latest column for iafrica.com, Springbok prop BJ Botha writes that the Boks are on an upward curve and believes the trend will continue this weekend against the Australians.

On a whole the results during the tour overseas in this year?s Tri-Nations were disappointing, but as a side we knew what we did wrong and what we had to get done to succeed. What was so frustrating overseas was that we were not getting in front early on, applying pressure, and converting that into points.

The yellow cards early on were a big cause of that, obviously, because against the two best sides in the world you simply cannot play with 14 men on the field. The Tri-Nations is so tight ? with the top three sides in the world taking part ? and the results show just how big an effect the cards had to play.

A run of yellow cards had a lot of people saying that referees were intentionally going after us, but as a player you can never think like that. I like to think that the ref is impartial, but one thing we were questioning was the lack of consistency being shown.

The same things did not seem to be blown for New Zealand and Australia that we were being penalised for? I don?t think any ref will go out and blow against a specific team, but a couple of the cards were not warranted and all parts of the game need to be blown consistently.

Some of the cards should have been dished out on the other side. If they had got yellow cards in our games, it would have changed the game in a big way. A card breaks a team?s momentum and gives your opposition the edge with an extra player on defence and attack.

This past weekend?s Test in Soweto was a great example of consistent calls. The All Blacks were penalised for what they did in the other Tests and it cost them their momentum. All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw always lives on the edge and like all players tries to get away with what he can, but when the game is blown more consistently and accurately it levels the playing field.

Moving forward

We showed this past weekend against the All Blacks that we are on an upward curve. Other than ourselves, the ABs are probably the only team in the world who can turn a game around like they did in Soweto, so hopefully what we showed for the majority of the game is a trend that will continue.

The margins between winning and losing are so small and we are not that far off. We cannot lose sight of what we accomplished in the last game. We need to concentrate on the process and what was done right. We need to believe in the system, not questioning it because of outside influences.

This weekend the Australians will look to pick up where they left off in Brisbane. They will play the running game, keep the ball in hand for multiple phases and attack from the start. We need to trust our defensive system ? which was much improved in Soweto ? and build on that. In Soweto we were well on top of the No.1 ranked side in the world for the majority of the game.

We really need to stick to our guns and try be positive going forward. It?s a new game, a new challenge and we are not there to prove we can beat Australia. We are there to play the game that we believe can beat any other team in the world at any time. Mentally we need to be strong, we cannot let the pressure to win cause us to panic. We as a Bok side have a basic gameplan, but when we do it well no side in the world can stop us.

We need to trust the system, be accurate in everything we do and let the result take care of itself

And while the knives are bizarrely out for the older guys like John Smit and Victor Matfield, its not even a question if they will be around for 2011, but hopefully for longer than that, because the side can?t function without these stalwarts! As a rugby nation we need to look at how we bring though the youth. We need to look to the experienced guys to help the younger players come through. You need to see how calm and collected the senior players are before a match to understand how important they are to the side. As a youngster you look to those players to help you through.

Every game at the World Cup is a pressure game ? a potential knockout game - and nowhere else to do you need experience more! We need to build around those experienced players.

What other team in world rugby has two players with over 100 Tests? We need to build around that experience with youngsters, of course, but we need to keep the core of the side that is built so far. The youngsters will come through, but they need to form around that core and then add to it. It has to be a good mix with youngsters like Juan de Jongh and Francis Hougaard coming though to add some spark to what is already there.

I think it is great just how well those two players did and it will be interesting to see how the side begins to shape up for the World Cup next year. There are some hard choices to make, but it is a good situation to be in.