That is the view of Australia's skills coach Mick Byrne ahead of the team's opening sessions in Johannesburg where their lungs will be burning in the thin air 1700 metres above sea level.

Australian teams have struggled in the Highveld in recent years, having won only a solitary Test in 54 years and their next assignment will come on Saturday (Sunday AEST) in Bloemfontein.

Every year there is discussion around what effects altitude will have on the visitors but Byrne has a simple message to his players: suck it up and get on with the job.

"You can't hide away from the fact that altitude's a different atmosphere but I think the players, you get used to it pretty quickly and adapt to it pretty quickly," Byrne said. "The big one is [that] it's not at the front of your mind. You set your protocols before you come here, you know what you're doing and then when you get here, you just get on with it.

"It's not something you talk about ??? you just get on with your life."

In August, Wallabies coaching staff gave strict orders for trainers to increase the intensity of fitness sessions, something that occurred in respective camps across the country as well as a particularly arduous week in Newcastle where players were pushed to their physical limits.

Up to four sessions per day had the Wallabies fit and firing come the first Bledisloe Cup clash, even if the scoreline did not reflect the physical work they had put in.

While Byrne believes the group has a way to go in that respect, he says for as many strength and conditioning coaches one can have, nothing beats some good old elbow grease.

"I know S&C coaches will have a crack at me but it isn't rocket science," said Byrne, a former Melbourne, Hawthorne and Sydney Aussie Rules football player. "They talk about it being science but I didn't have a lot of sports science around me when I played and we were able to get fit. It's about hard work.

"The good thing about it is making sure you're looking after the loading of the players in-season. That's our challenge. Getting fit? Not really. I don't believe it's that hard to get fit but maintaining fitness and keeping your fitness while playing games through loads of training is a management area and I think we've got our head around that and we're doing a good job.

"Getting a good base of work, which we did in that August window, has set us up for the year really well."

Byrne, who worked with the All Blacks for a number of years before joining the Wallabies in 2016, was asked why New Zealand handled the altitude adjustment better than most when touring South Africa.

"They've been a pretty good team in that window - that usually helps - but I also think their levels of fitness have been at a high level and they back themselves in that area," Byrne said. "We're in that stage now where ??? the mentality is we've got to back ourselves and just get on with life."