Wallabies skipper hoping new Sydney stadium will become a fortress

SYDNEY : Australia captain James Slipper thinks the sparkling new Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) could become a fortress for the Wallabies, starting with Saturday's Rugby Championship test against the Springboks.

The arena has been completely rebuilt at a cost of A$828 million ($562 million) and sees its first sporting action when the Sydney Roosters take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a rugby league derby on Friday night.

The 15-man game takes over on Saturday when the Wallabies look to back up last week's 25-17 win over the world champions and land successive victories for the first time this season.

"We're coming off a good result last week in Adelaide, and given the opportunity to play the first rugby (union) game at a new stadium, it's going to be a special day," Slipper told reporters at the ground.

"I can see this stadium turning into a fortress for us with a big Sydney crowd passionate about their rugby. The atmosphere will be humming, I know all the boys are pretty excited about it."

The old stadium, completed in 1988 and demolished three years ago, hosted 26 Wallabies matches with the home side winning all but seven of them.

In recent years, Lang Park was Australia's fortress with the Wallabies winning 10 straight matches at the venue until a loss to England in July.

Slipper said the new venue had a similar feel to the Brisbane stadium with the seats steeply banked and crowding right up to the touchline.

Saturday's match is a 42,500 sellout but prop Slipper said the crowd was not going to bring an end to the inconsistency which has plagued the Wallabies this year.

"I'd like to be in a team where we don't rely on a stadium to get us up for a game. The big thing this week for us is backing up a good performance," he