Cape Town — I did try to warn the Springboks and their fans about the Wallabies last week.
My comment on their team announcement started with this: “Beware, Springboks: this is a proper Wallabies team that will front up at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
“Coach Dave Rennie said upon announcing his team on Thursday that it was ‘great to have a number of experienced players back in the mix this weekend’, and they come at just the right time.
“For all the talk about the Wallabies being soft touches upfront, that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
And didn’t they prove those points in the 25-17 victory over the world champions. They found ways to “manage” the scrum battle, and even won a few penalties from that set-piece, and their maul defence was top-notch — despite not always legal.
As usual, their backs flourished, running superb angles, with Marika Koroibete putting Handre Pollard on his backside with a lovely sidestep to score.
But that doesn’t mean that the Boks cannot overcome those issues and pull off a victory in Saturday’s clash at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
Rennie was able to pick an unchanged starting XV on Thursday, and the only new face on the bench is Waratahs scrumhalf Jake Gordon.
So, it’s the same threats that the South Africans have to face for a second week in a row, and you would hope that they have a few solutions this time around.
Flyhalf Noah Lolesio flourished behind a Wallaby pack that provided front-foot ball in general play and the scrums. But the Boks battled to put any real pressure on him, and that needs to change in Sydney.
Robust No 8 Jasper Wiese is just the man to put the heat on Lolesio. He is considerably quicker than the man he is replacing, Duane Vermeulen, and needs to put in an early hit on the Aussie No 10 to make sure that he’s aware of his presence.
In that respect, Jaden Hendrikse also needs to make life difficult for Wallaby No 9 Nic White — just not like Faf de Klerk tried with his slap at the scrum. Hendrikse needs to keep White busy by engaging him with ball-in-hand as well, and not allow him to provide a smooth service to Lolesio.
The Wallabies struggled in the line-outs throughout the Adelaide Test, and it was somewhat surprising to see hooker Folau Fainga’a retained ahead of Dave Porecki as the former’s throwing isn’t the best.
Props James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa spun and stepped around to make it a long afternoon at times for Ox Nche and Frans Malherbe, and the Boks will hope that the introduction of Steven Kitshoff and Malcolm Marx into the front row will ensure better outcomes.
And if the Boks are going to continue with their kicking strategy, they need to place greater pressure on the Wallaby back-three of Reece Hodge, Tom Wright and Koroibete, who aren’t the greatest when they are made to turn around.
Hendrikse and flyhalf Damian Willemse need to find the corners with their tactical kicks just to mix things up from the usual box-kicks and up-and-unders.
It is the first time in 48 Tests that the Wallabies have named an unchanged starting team, but they are still highly beatable …
Australia starting XV: 15 Reece Hodge, 14 Tom Wright, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper (capt). Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Pete Samu, 22 Jake Gordon, 23 Andrew Kellaway.