The Springboks won one game, against Australia, and finished third in a pulsating 2010 Tri-Nations tournament which saw the Wallabies hitting form to get within a point of the unbeaten All Blacks in the final game of the series.
The reigning World Champions begin their tour of the Northern Hemisphere in Ireland before visiting Wales on Saturday 13th November – with Wales themselves taking on the Wallabies in the first game of their Autumn campaign the weekend before.
The Wallabies warm up for Wales with a stop off in Hong Kong where they meet New Zealand again and Marinos warns that each of the three Southern Hemisphere sides have raised the standards of the world game in their recent clashes.
But the eight-times capped former Newport Gwent Dragons centre and former chief executive of that region who is now at the helm of his native South Africa also backs Wales to be the side to watch in Europe.
“Having recently completed the Tri Nations Series with the Springboks I feel that the game in the Southern Hemisphere has lifted a couple of notches,” said Marinos.
“One just has to look at the intensity and speed at which the matches were played over the last five rounds, adaptation to the pace of the game and, more significantly, to the referee’s interpretation, especially as we have seen the swing to awarding the attacking team for playing positive rugby.
“However, of all the teams, and not because I am a former Welsh international, Wales are best suited to an open, quick and running type of game as evidenced when they won the Six Nations in 2008 in emphatic style.
“Possession is key and pace of the game with ball in hand is the decider. Looking at the quality of the players Wales have that relish an open and expansive game, it sets the stage for an exciting Autumn.”
Marinos also says the Millennium Stadium itself will play an important role in ensuring the matches in Cardiff this Autumn produce a spectacle to behold and he admits the Springboks will be looking to target this fixture in advance of their Rugby World Cup Pool D meeting with Wales next year.
“It will be crucial to have these games on dry pitches, which Wales can achieve with the roof closed,” he added.
“Rating the chances of Wales against the three Southern Hemisphere teams, it is difficult to assess now given the fact that the season is still new.
“But not too much can be read into the results between South Africa and Wales at the end of year, given we face each other in the 1st pool match at RWC.
“World Cups are different, demands are more and stakes higher. We would want to build momentum from the match against Wales with a focus more on performance than on result.”
