Former Wallaby Ken Catchpole says Australia are not World Cup contenders yet despite their heroic win over South Africa in Bloemfontein last weekend.

Catchpole, a member of the last Wallabies side to emerge from South Africa's highveldt victorious in 1963, says the current model still has work to do to convince him of their World Cup credentials.

"The impression I had was they started off well and second half just succumbed a little bit, that structure disintegrated a little bit," Catchpole said on Wednesday when asked for his opinion on the 41-39 win over the Springboks.

"They've still got a little bit to go before they're a competitor for the World Cup."

Catchpole, a Wallaby hall of fame inductee who was unveiled as the latest sporting figure to be immortalised in bronze outside the Sydney Football Stadium and SCG, says ending the team's recent struggles against the All Blacks would go a long way to changing his opinion.

"Probably that, one, they have a win against them, but two, the way they win is displaying their improvement in their performance," said the former halfback, whose 27-Test career was ended when he had his hamstring torn off the bone in a tackle by All Black legend Colin Meads in 1967.

The 71-year-old believes the Wallabies can end their nine-Test losing streak to the New Zealanders in Sydney this Saturday but it would take some luck.

"There's an opportunity there, nobody would say the Wallabies are starting favourites, that's just not on," he said.

"But they've got a chance. I'm not sure they can do it just yet."

And Catchpole, who formed a legendary halves partnership with Phil Hawthorne for the Wallabies in the 1960s, says the current combination of Will Genia and Quade Cooper had impressed him.

But he feels challenges lie ahead for the Queensland pair.

"I think it's one of those situations where you hit initially and you do well but then they work out how you do it so they're going to come back and form a fairly strong defensive exercise against you," he said.

"That's a little hurdle you've got to get over and then go.

"I think they might have the ability (to get over that hurdle) but just wait and see."

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