George Smith is sick of questions about the breakdown, but that's probably what you get when you become the world's most capped loose forward.

In all the excitement of Australia's first win on South African soil in eight years it was easy to overlook flanker Smith's milestone - 90 Tests, one more than Frenchman Olivier Magne.

"I wasn't aware of it until after the game," Smith said.

"You don't play the game to reach these milestones but it was nice news to receive after the game and to surpass a great player like Olivier Magne is a fantastic achievement.

"I've got plenty of time and plenty of games ahead of me."

And no doubt plenty more questions about the breakdown, a topic Smith could easily be handed an honorary doctorate in.

"That's a question that comes up every week," he noted before giving his weekly answer.

"The breakdown's an important part of the game so it will definitely be an area that we will take notice of."

The South African media, though, have been obsessed with their side's inability to dominate the tackle area and frustrated the Springboks haven't fielded a specialist "fetcher" in their recent run of Test losses.

And they're keen to get world class Aussie No.7 Smith to back them.

"It can work in different ways for you, you can have faster (flankers) in terms of reaction time at the breakdown, then a bigger physical guy in terms of ball carrying ability," Smith repeated.

"So it works differently for different teams and I guess it works around the way the team is coached as well."

Smith could go on answering similar questions into a 100th Test next year, a mark he admits he is aiming for.

"It's a possibility that I can reach that mark," he said.

"My body's feeling really good at the moment and I'm enjoying the football that I am playing so hopefully if the time comes I'd like to make that mark."

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