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It is amazing what 80 minutes of rugby can do. The past week has been a meme wonderland as fans, media, and former and current players dissected the Springboks' 38-22 dismantling in the second half at Ellis Park against the Wallabies last weekend, when the visitors sprung a shock upset win, but reactions are often fast and fickle.
At the start of the year, Rassie Erasmus and his team would have circled the clash at Eden Park on 6 September against their greatest rivals, the All Blacks, as the game of the season, but all eyes are on Cape Town as they look to right some wrongs. The last time the two sides faced each other there was in 2014 when the home side won 28-10 and SA has not lost back to back Tests since November 2022.
Erasmus said of the selection and lessons learned, “We also know where we went wrong against Australia last week, so we made a few changes that we believe will offer us what we need for this game.
We are determined to get things right this week….There’s no doubt they’ll take a lot of confidence from their victory last week, and especially since that marked their first victory at Ellis Park against us in the professional era.
We are still hurting from that result, and the coaches and players are extremely disappointed with the way we played last week. We know we didn’t play according to our standards in the second half, and we must rectify that.”
Nothing should be taken away from what Joe Schmidt and his team have done with the Wallabies over the past year, and they rightfully have enjoyed the praise in breaking their Ellis Park hoodoo in the most fascinating of Tests. They last won there 62 years ago, and the comeback win from 22-0 down was one of the biggest among top-tier teams on record.
At the heart of that win was James O'Connor, who ranked the victory as the sweetest in his 17-year international career. But the win also came at a cost for the Wallabies as captain Harry Wilson, James Slipper, Ben Donaldson, and Dylan Pietsch are all ruled out of the second test, and Rhys Van Nek, Filipo Daugunu Hamish Stewart were called in as cover.
It is also no surprise that Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made wholesale changes, even though some were out of his control, as four of his players were ruled out of the Test this weekend: Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and Edwill van der Merwe.
Only five Springbok players will start against Australia for the second week in a row: Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, and Jesse Kriel. The centre captains his side for the second time this year with Kolisi ruled out, while he of "props don't eat salads" fame, Ox Nche, will be Kriel’s vice-captain for the first time in his international career.
Other players to feature for the second weekend in a row are Franco Mostert, Canan Moodie, Wilco Louw, Boan Venter, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Kwagga Smith, and Cobus Reinach.
The return of Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, and initially Bok centurion Willie le Roux* will add much-needed experience. Kriel and Damian de Allende pair up in the centres for the 38th time (extending their record as the most-capped Springbok centre pairing in history) for the hosts as they look for an immediate response to get their Rugby Championship title defence back on track.
*Aphelele Fassi was a late callup to fullback following the withdrawal of Willie le Roux due to a niggle.
The return of Pollard is something several former Bok players called for, and Manie Libbok has continued to be in the firing line for his performance/s. Victor Matfield was among those who said the Boks need to be playing their strongest team, and that includes Pollard, in his opinion. The two-time winning Rugby World Cup flyhalf only needs three points to reach 800 points in Tests for South Africa, but a win will be at the front of his mind.
“Damian and Cheslin have also recovered from their injuries, and with their experience and knowledge of the Wallabies, it was a logical choice to recall them,” explained Erasmus.
Damian De Allende will also move into 10th place on the list of most-capped Springboks, with 90 Tests against Australia.
The bench, which failed so poorly last week and the stats show that too, this weekend features a 6-2 split with Marnus van der Merwe, Boan Venter, Wilco Louw, Eben Etzebeth, Lood De Jager, and Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Matfield said of the bench in the loss and this year, “The Australian bench was way better than ours. Some of the guys coming on now don’t have the experience yet to be a good influence. The bench has been outplayed in the last few games.”
Erasmus added, “There’s still a lot of frustration and disappointment, but we know what we did wrong. They totally outplayed us, they scored some tries that weren’t even from phases, and they gave us a hiding at the breakdown…We have our backs against the wall, and we know we have to make it right.”
Australia knows what is coming. They have lost seven out of the eight Tests between the two sides in Cape Town, but after last week, which saw several records tumble, even Erasmus dismissed the history books.
“We don’t believe in previous records and Australia showed last week that it is insignificant, so we are under no illusions that this match is going to be another proper grind…They also showed that they can fight until the end, so it will be vital for us to give everything until the final whistle this weekend. This match is essential for us to get our campaign on track, and we all realise the importance of ensuring that we do not make the same mistakes as last week.”
Joseph Suaalii, as is the whole team, is expecting a wounded Springbok team to come out ferociously. “They’ll come out firing. We know that. After a loss, you tend to lick your wounds”
One of the stars for the Wallabies was Tom Wright who ran a round-high 106 metres, scored a try and assisted in another - it was the first time since a Wallaby had done so since Marika Koroibete did so against Samoa in September 2019.
Tate McDermott, who came off the bench, also sounded the alarm bells, saying, "The Springboks are world-class, we saw what they did in the first 20 minutes, they tore us to shreds. We know that they're coming and they're coming hard, so we're going to back it up.”
He praised his side’s fightback and ability to stay in the game, but said they have to back it up. "Whenever you're going up against the Boks, your forward pack has got to be brilliant and [we] were good on the weekend, but the challenge for [us] is repeating that.”
The Boks have no option but to win with so much at stake, and although the Wallabies would love a whitewash on South African soil (which would be just the second time ever in the Rugby Championship), it's hard to see them pulling off two massive wins in a row. As much as neutral fans and everyone in Australia and New Zealand will rejoice in a Wallaby win, 80 minutes doesn't make a team, and there is still so much class and quality in the Bok setup that they should redeem themselves in Cape Town.
