Kuridrani was one of the few bright spots in the Wallabies' late-game collapse against the Springboks last weekend, running as if "he had spiders on him" - in the words of Scott Fardy - to help put Australia to a 10-5 half time lead and making 17 tackles to keep it in the match with 10 minutes to go.

Rewarded with a debut in Ewen McKenzie's first Test team last year, the 23-year-old has started in all but three of his 15 appearances since then, in an indication of the esteem in which he is held by the Wallabies coach.

But if his selections might have been characterised as an investment in future growth until recently, Kuridrani's benchmark-setting game against the Springboks is a tantalising glimpse of the payoff.

He credits part of it with tweaking his Test preparation, particularly late in the week, and also some valuable feedback from Leali'ifano.

"I refocus on what I need to do the next day and talk to some of the senior boys, who tell me what I need to improve on," Kuridrani said.

"Christian is always helping me, we talk before the games, I ask him how I'm going at training through the week, and he tells me what to do and I try to improve on that."

Kuridrani may play as if he's covered in "spiders", but he describes his off-field persona as closer to "spiderwebs".

Naturally soft-spoken in public, he said he struggled with confidence when he was first selected at Test level.

"I feel more confident now, just playing against the boys and knowing the structure of the game, gives me more confidence to step up," he said.

"Compared to last year I was a little bit shy and a little bit scared."

It was another pep talk from Leali'ifano that helped Kuridrani embrace his place in the Wallabies' back line.

"He is always telling me to always back myself, whatever I do to back myself, that's one of the things I got from him," he said.

There was no hint of fear at Newlands Stadium last weekend, when Kuridrani topped almost every attacking stat - across both sides - to silence an expectant South African crowd.

He made 87 metres, 17 carries, two clean breaks and beat eight defenders, and was the toughest tackler in the Wallabies back line when the tables were turned on Australia in the final 25 minutes of the match.

That his efforts were not rewarded in the final score is a bitter pill to swallow, but Kuridrani believes both he and the Wallabies can back up from the brutal encounter to make another impact against Argentina in Mendoza this weekend.

"I'm really confident in the boys," he said.

"There was some positive stuff we can take out of that game against South Africa, so I'm pretty confident that we'll have a good game this weekend."