WALES hooker Scott Baldwin has insisted his team doesn’t suffer from a Southern Hemisphere hang-up ahead of their top-of-the-pool clash with Australia tomorrow.

The Wallabies have broken Welsh hearts with a number of last-gasp wins in recent years to extend their winning streak over Warren Gatland’s men to 10 matches dating back to 2009.

Wales’ last win came in the 21-18 triumph at the Millennium Stadium a year previously, but in the last nine meetings, the Australians have never won by more than eight points.

When asked whether there was a SANZAR hoodoo, Baldwin said: “No, I don't think so.

“I think we showed that in the autumn beating South Africa and 60 minutes into the game we were beating the All Blacks and from there I think our confidence has grown.

“We didn't have the greatest first 40 minutes at the start of the Six Nations, but the second half against England we improved and from there we went on a roll and we've put together some good results.

“We're building on that and confidence is growing in the squad.”

One area the Osprey will have to improve is in the scrum.

A fortnight ago, his front three was dismantled by England.

On Saturday, Australia’s trio of Scott Sio, Stephen Moore and Sekope Kepu destroyed Graham Rowntree’s scrum.  

Baldwin said: “We spoke with Joël Jutge [World Rugby High Performance Match Officials Manager] and we've had some back-and-forth with him from the England weekend.

“The feedback was that we should have got some different decisions, should we say, there and again against Fiji - the first two scrums were probably fair but I thought the third was taken down.

“You look at their tight-head and he's on his knees, so I think [we need] consistency there.

“We're working on the feedback we're given and trying to transfer that onto the pitch, but we're just not getting the results at the moment.

“We're confident in our scrum and I think towards the end - certainly in the last scrum of the game - I thought we had the nudge on them but I think Toby at the back of our scrum even when he's under pressure has been phenomenal for us.”

The 26-year-old continued to heap praise on the Dragons number 8, who has been in fine form in Wales’ first three games.

“For the last couple of weeks he's been our best player,” Baldwin added.  

“I don't think he's ever had a bad game.

“The coaches were talking a couple of weeks ago because he dropped a ball off a kick-off and they just commented on how unlike Toby that was.

“So to say he hasn't had a great game because he's dropped one kick-off, that shows just how good a player he is.”