2024 Rugby Championship Round 1: Springboks Vs. Wallabies Preview
2024 Rugby Championship Round 1: Springboks Vs. Wallabies Preview
South Africa's Springboks will face Australia's Wallabies at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane in Round 1 of the 2024 Rugby Championship.
Rugby World Cup champion South Africa will look to tick one more milestone off its list when the Springboks take on the Wallabies in Brisbane on Friday night.
Traveling to what has been a house of horrors for Springboks rugby over the years with just one win from 13 attempts in Brisbane, Rassie Erasmus’ side has the opportunity to buck this trend against a developing Wallabies side.
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Interestingly, the Boks have won just two of their last five encounters with Australia and have not won the Rugby Championship since 2019. Thus, there will be plenty of motivation for this highly experienced squad to set up what many presume will be a Championship-deciding doubleheader against the All Blacks at home in Round 3 and Round 4.
Team News
Naming his team early in the week, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus took a bold step in a new direction by naming the uber-exciting Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at fly-half ahead of double World Cup winner Handre Pollard.
Joining the Stormers star in the starting lineup, Bulls backrow sensation Elrigh Louw has been given an opportunity to nail himself down as the first-choice No. 8, with Jasper Wiese and Evan Roos both unavailable.
Elsewhere in the starting lineup, Frans Malherbe will earn his 60th start at tighthead, which puts him behind only Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira and Os Du Randt in terms of starts in the No. 3 shirt.
Behind Malherbe in the engine room, Eben Etzebeth will earn his 124th test cap, which will take him to just three behind Springboks legend Victor Matfield’s South African record.
For the hosts, head coach Joe Schmidt has named debutant Carlo Tizzano in the backrow, and Fraser McReight is out injured.
Up front, Schmidt has placed his faith 24-year-old loosehead Isaac Kailea, who was impressive against Wales in July, to counter the experienced Springboks front row.
Behind the pack, Noah Lolesio gets the nod ahead of Tom Lynagh, and Schmidt explains his thought process when it comes to picking his chief playmaker.
“I think most teams have a 10 on the bench, maybe not a specialist per se, but Noah’s had the most time in the saddle for us through training and through those first two Welsh tests, so he’s got that opportunity,” Schmidt told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.
“We lost Tom for maybe a week and a half with a hamstring injury. He’s back to 100%, but he had to get through this week’s training, so there was a little bit of uncertainty there.
“Ben Donaldson, he’s working really hard on his game, and we’re trying to help him make sure that some of the things that he’s actually really good at get delivered consistently. He just didn’t get a good start in the Georgia game, and things didn’t flow for him.
“We just want to make sure that next time he goes in, he’s right up to speed and confident because he’s got a really good skillset.”
Key Head-To-Head Matchups
In a world of few absolutes, one thing is for certain in this week’s fixture: the Wallabies are staring down their biggest challenge of the Schmidt era to date.
Up front, on paper, this match is a no contest. The Boks pack so heavily favored to dominate their Australian counterparts in just about every facet.
Thus, parking this much trodden conversation path for the time being, there are several head-to-head matchups that have the possibility of being real duels.
One battle in particular that will be fascinating is how the back threes of each side handle one another, starting at fullback, where you will struggle to find more contrasting operators than Willie Le Roux and Tom Wright.
Now firmly on the back nine of his career, Le Roux is enjoying an Indian Summer in terms of his form at 34-years-old. Simply put, he is playing about as well as at any point in his career, albeit in a different fashion from his younger days.
No longer a deep-running threat like he was when he was a free-roaming sprinter in his 20s, Le Roux now is a sophisticated link player who creates opportunities for those around him.
On the flip side, Wright, who has rebounded from a tough period under former coach Eddie Jones to firmly establish himself as Schmidt’s man at the back, is a lethal counterattack operator. Combining pace with vision and an underrated skillset, Wright has the ability to punish sloppy kicks.
These contrasting styles, and where the two players are in their careers, are an interesting snapshot as to where the two sides sit currently. On one hand you have the settled and experienced Le Roux, who you know will perform at an 8-of-10 level week in and week out against a coming force in Wright, who has the potential to flip a game on its head.
Prediction
Despite history being stacked against them, the Springboks, on paper, should have too much for their hosts.
Watching back at the two teams' July Series against Wales and Ireland, respectively, there was a very definite difference in quality between the two series.
In South Africa, their 1-1 series against Ireland was played at about as high a level as we have ever seen in international rugby. The two teams at this moment in time are a step above the rest, safe for perhaps, England, New Zealand and France, which all will have their chance to stake their claim as the best in the world.
Against Wales, the Wallabies had moments of brilliance and ultimately won both tests relatively comfortably, but this was against arguably the worst Welsh team since the early 2000s.
A week after the conclusion of this series, the Wallabies had the kitchen sink thrown at them by Georgia, and while they won, there were clear areas of weakness - in particular, up front - that need addressing.
If one were to cling to anything from an Australian perspective, it would be that, head-to-head with the Boks, both Schmidt and the Wallabies generally have a good record. Throw into the mix the Brisbane factor, and the Boks' propensity to occasionally falter when they are heavy favorites, and the Wallabies have a route to success.
For an upset to happen, the Wallabies will need to weather the undoubted storm that is coming at scrum time.
Despite losing to Ireland in the second test in July, the Boks obliterated a highly touted Irish scrum to such an extent that it was not even a competition across the two tests.
Should Bok loosehead Ox Nche get under Wallabies captain Allan Alaatoa early, then the contest could be all but over by halftime.
Given the Wallabies' improvement, this contest will be closer than many expect, but the Boks should have enough to get over the line. South Africa by 10.
Lineups:
Australia
15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Luke Reimer, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handré Pollard
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