Key events
It’s easy to forget that the Wallabies were in the doldrums back in September 2023.
The pasting they received at the hands of Fiji at the World Cup meant they failed to get out of their group. Eddie Jones inevitably got the sack and there were questions over whether the code had a future at all.
This redemption narrative isn’t complete, but it’s on track.
The team is on the up. Fans are returning. Interesting is rising. The Rugby Championship is another opportunity to keep the fire burning.
Wallabies team
The 35-year-old James O’Connor has been picked at at fly-half, playing his first game for Australia in three years.
If the veteran can get the ball out wide the Aussies will be in business with the combative Dylan Pietsch and the slippery Max Jorgensen waiting in the trams.
First, O’Connor will need front foot ball and here is where the game will be won and lost. The back row of skipper Harry Wilso, Tom Hooper and Fraser McReight will need to boss their sphere of influence. Keep an eye out for the cameo of Langi Gleeson off the bench.
Wallabies: 1 – Slipper, 2 – Pollard, 3 – Tupou, 4 – Frost, 5 – Skelton, 6 – Hooper, 7 – McReight, 8 – Wilson (c); 9 – White, 10 – O’Connor; 11 – Pietsch, 12 – Ikitau, 13 – Suaalii, 14 – Jorgensen; 15 – Wright.
Replacements: 16 – Paenga-Amosa, 17 – Bell, 18 – Nonggorr, 19 – Williams, 20 – Gleeson, 21 – Champion de Crespigny, 22 – McDermott, 23 – Kellaway.
Springboks team
Rassie Erasmus named his team on Monday and it’s one that promises loads of running.
Manie Libbok at fly-half will be keen to let the ball sing and has a freewheeling scrum-half inside him in Grant Williams, arguably the fastest man among the 46 involved today.
Siya Kolisi plays at No. 8 and there are five forwards and three backs on the bench, a departure from the Bomb Squad tactic that has brought so much success over the past six years.
Eben Etzebeth’s battle with Will Skelton in the tight exchanges could swing the contest.
Springboks: 1 – Nche, 2 – Marx, 3 – Louw, 4 – Etzebeth, 5 – de Jager, 6 – van Staden, 7 – du Toit, 8 – Kolisi (c); 9 – Williams, 10 – Libbok; 11 – Arendse, 12 – Esterhuizen, 13 – Kriel, 14 – van der Merwe; 15 Fassi.
Replacements: 16 – Mbonambi, 17 – Wessels, 18 – Ntlabakanye, 19 – Mostert, 20 – Smith, 21 – Reinach, 22 – Moodie, 23 – Willemse.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
There’s a saying in cricket that you can’t judge a pitch until both sides have had a bat.
Here’s my equivalent for rugby: You can’t judge the power of a pack until it’s gone toe to toe with the Springboks.
The Wallabies might have lost the series against the British & Irish Lions, but some of their big boys left with reputations enhanced. Will Skelton, Rob Valetini, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, Tom Hooper, Langi Gleeson; where there were concerns about the Aussies ability to mix it with big boys there’s now confidence in the tall timber.
Well, let’s see how hard they really are. Because bullying the Lions is one thing. Standing firm against the double world champions on their own patch is something else entirely.
They’ll have to do it without Valetini, for my money the most destructive loose forward in the world (Pieter-Steph du Toit fans, I said ‘destructive’, not ‘best’). But, with six forwards on the bench compared to the Boks’ five in reserve, Joe Schmidt still has enough to cause a seismic upset. Or does he?
We’ll find out in a bit when the old frenemies lock horns at the Home of Rugby that is Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Get in touch if you want to share something with the group. Reckon the Wallabies have the requisite meat? Will the Boks razzle-dazzle with a zippy backline? Want to pull me up on anything I’ve said already? My door is open.
Kick-off at 4:10 pm local time, 0:10 am AEST.
Teams and other bits to come.
