Ben Smith: Why altitude is 'not an advantage' for the Boks

IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  New Zealand journalist Ben Smith is adamant that the Wallabies can finally break their 60-year-long  drought against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld.

The Springboks open their Rugby Championship campaign with a match against Australia at Loftus Versfeld on July 8.

The Springboks have a proud record at Loftus Versfeld, especially against the Wallabies.

The two teams have met on seven occasions - stretching back to 1963 - with the Springboks being triumphant in all matches at this venue.

In fact, the home side has dominated the encounter, winning four of the seven encounters by 11 points or more.

The last time the two teams met at the venue was in 2016, when Boks recorded an 18-10 win.

Hosting the games at Loftus Versfeld supposedly gives the Springboks the advantage of altitude.

However, Rugbypass' New Zealand-based scribe Ben Smith, tweeted that based on last year's defeat to the All Blacks at Ellis Park, the Springboks do not have the altitude factor counting in their favour anymore.

The pundit revealed that Wallabies can 'run them [the Boks] off the park' given the Springboks have a large amount of overseas-based players, who are not used to the altitude - just like the All Blacks during the 35-23 win at Ellis Park.

During the historic Ellis Park encounter, the Springboks appeared to struggle with the tempo of the match, while the All Blacks took control from the kick-off, racing to a 15-0 lead.

The Boks gradually work their way into the match taking a 23-21 lead in the 68th minute.

However, the All Blacks found their second wind and picked up the tempo, scoring two tries in the last eight minutes for the win.

Smith revealed that similar to the All Blacks at Ellis Park, the Wallabies should 'play fast'.

"Gas them in the last 20," he tweeted

The tweet has not gone down well with some users.

While others seem to agree with him.