Mark Andrews is the man beleaguered Springbok coach Nick Mallett has turned to in an effort to spark the team to a higher level of competitiveness in Saturday's crucial Vodacom Tri-Nations Test against Australia.

The veteran of 61 Tests, who arrived in Sydney on Monday night after injuries severely disrupted the touring team, has been included in the starting line-up after just one training session with the Boks. However, the lock pronounced himself ready to take much of the responsibility on his broad shoulders.

"I will be as ready as I can be. It's obviously a bit disruptive for the side and me to slot in at such short notice. This is quite a new side from the one that went to the World Cup last year and there is a whole new style of play and pattern. It will take a while to get my lines and how I run worked out, but hopefully this is where my experience will help me a bit."

Andrews declared himself ready for "about 65 minutes" of Test rugby. "I haven't had a lot of game time lately. I played in Gary Teichmann's benefit game six weeks ago and only one half in Hennie le Roux's benefit game because I had the flu. Last Wednesday I played about 60, 65 minutes in the Natal trials, so I think I am good for about 65 minutes."

Mallett was happy with the way the battle-hardened player has slotted in. "He's been in pre-Currie Cup training. He hasn't had much game time since the Super 12, but had a game last Wednesday. He played the last three, four Super 12 games, but I don't think he was very fit. He told me he was at about 120kg and now he's at 114, which is his best weight.

"Mark has done a lot of running with the Sharks. I'm convinced he is going to be on fire in Saturday's game. We obviously have to look at how jet lag is going to influence him, because that could be a problem.

"But we've got experience on the bench. We've got Andre Venter who could move to lock and we've got Warren Brosnihan and Jannes Labuschagne who could come on if we need to replace Mark."

Andrews is the man who has to turn around the Boks' fortunes in the lineouts and take control of the kick-offs, two major concerns thus far. "It's my job. Lineouts, kick-offs, scrumming and rucking are my main jobs, that's what a lock has to do and that's what I can do," he said.

He admits the new game plan takes a while to get used to. "Yes, it is a bit of a concern. At practice yesterday I was chasing as support player and the next thing the ball disappeared two channels away from me!

"I was stranded in no-man's land, but I've got two more sessions this week and hopefully I'll sort out my running lines and feel a bit more comfortable on the field."

A session with assistant coach Heyneke Meyer and flyhalf Braam van Straaten helped to bring the lock up to speed with what the Boks are planning to do on the field. "They basically explained to me how we are trying to play and what we want to accomplish with ball in hand and the different moves. It takes a bit of time but unfortunately we don't have much time, so I'll just have to make the best of things on Saturday night."

He said he was pretty surprised by how positive the spirit in the camp is when he arrived. "These guys haven't given up by any means. They are pretty upbeat and are confident they can turn things round on the weekend, which is good to see."

The giant lock reckons despite the diappointing results thus far, the Boks are on the right track. "I didn't watch the game against Australia, but did watch the one against New Zealand. I thought we played much better against the All Blacks - I've seen snippets of the game against the Wallabies and I watched the English games.

"The way the Boks played against the All Blacks looked pretty good. There are a few things we've got to work on, like breaking down defences, but I'm happy with the way they are playing now."

Andrews said he is a bit uncertain as to what to expect from the world champions this weekend. "I'm not really sure what to expect. I watched their game against the All Blacks and they looked pretty impressive - coming back from 24 points down.

"They appear very confident and a team with self-belief is always a dangerous side, but you could catch them being complacent. So I'll just play my heart out and see what happens."