The Springboks get the defence of their Rugby Championship title underway against Australia at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday with an interesting matchday squad featuring Siya Kolisi at eighthman.
Saturday 16 August
To Win
Springboks | Draw | Australia
Handicap
SA | Australia
Rassie Erasmus has again named a few surprise selections, though mostly due to some injury niggles in the camp. Neither Damian de Allende nor Cheslin Kolbe are 100% fit, and instead of risking them on the highveld, Erasmus has opted to unleash Andre “The Giant” Esterhuizen at inside centre with Edwill van der Merwe on the right wing.
Elsewhere in a backline seemingly engineered for speed and plenty of all-out Tonyball action, Grant Williams is paired with Manie Libbok at halfback, with Aphelele Fassi at fullback, Kurt-Lee Arendse at left wing and Jesse Kriel at outside centre. In a 5-3 bench split, Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse will look to add value later on.
Having played the majority of the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ URC season in the position, Kolisi now makes the shift to No 8 at national level, where he will be flanked by Pieter-Steph du Toit and Marco van Staden. Lood de Jager ascends back to his one-regular role of No 5 in tandem with No 4 Eben Etzebeth, while Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx and Ox Nche make up the front row.
The Bomb Squad also features Bongi Mbonambi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith.
Coming fresh off the back of their gruelling series against the British & Irish Lions, much has been said about how battle-ready the Wallabies will be heading into this clash on the highveld in comparison to a Springbok side that had relatively undemanding mid-year Test outings against the likes of Italy and Georgia.
And while there is certainly some merit to this point, with Joe Schmidt’s men likely to be less rusty having played just a fortnight ago compared to a Bok outfit last in action a month ago, the reality is that Australia haven’t won at Ellis Park since 1963.
They were also swept by the Boks at home in last year’s edition, with the back-to-back world champions collecting all 10-log points on offer from their Tests in Brisbane and Perth.
If Australia are to have a way into the game, it will surely be through capitalising on any overly-expansive Bok attacking play, with the hosts likely aiming to run the tourists off their feet following their 12-hour haul to the Republic and aforementioned Lions series.
Whether the Wallabies can maintain the Boks’ tempo for the full 80-minute, as well as the accuracy of Erasmus’ side, will decide how close they get to effecting what would be a mighty upset,
Verdict: Boks on the minus
Although Australia should have more than a few moments of razzle-dazzle in Johannesburg, they could struggle to match the Boks’ intensity over the course of the full Test match.
