– Cape Town The Springboks are approaching their Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies at Sydney Football Stadium as a “final,” but it’s time they play like it’s a decider instead of merely hyping it up as such.
Earlier this week, Bok coach Jacques Nienaber said that his injury-plagued squad hopes to rebound with a victory in Sydney in order to remain in championship contention.
The Boks have endured consecutive losses, against the All Blacks at Ellis Park and the Wallabies in Adelaide, and will seek that elusive victory Down Under this week.
This past weekend’s Bok horror show at Adelaide Oval prolonged the South Africans’ winless streak in Australia, which began in 2013.
They again began sluggishly and deteriorated in the second half, squandering opportunity after opportunity in advantageous field positions by failing to complete passes or allowing knock-ons.
The Boks clearly felt Handre Pollard’s expensive errors – in the shape of botched efforts off the tee and a missed tackle on Marika Koroibete in the build-up to his try – which will continue to haunt the flyhalf for some time.
But it wasn’t only at No. 10 that the Boks encountered several difficulties.
Several players were off their game, and the Boks’ defense was ugly.
This week, they will need to capitalize on the opportunities they generate, improve as a defensive unit, and ensure that the set-piece, particularly the lineout, is firing from the opening whistle. A good start will be just as crucial as a complete 80-minute effort.
The Wallabies are a concern because to their ability to keep going, which makes the aforementioned points more crucial, while the Springboks will also need to be savvy about the Australians’ off-the-ball shenanigans.
Nienaber said, “This week is a must-win for us to remain in the tournament, and we anticipate Australia to be just as desperate as we are.”
This week, we are motivated to fix our poor performance in the past two games and improve our fortunes in Australia.
It’s not the first time this season that the Boks have referred to a game as a final, and it’s not the first time we’ve heard how desperate they are.
This weekend, though, it will be necessary for them to put their words into action.
The Boks have not had a fantastic season. Yes, they defeated Wales in a series, but they should have done much better, and they should have never lost to a dreadfully out-of-form New Zealand team.
The Boks are appropriately approaching this game like a championship match.
Losing again might induce panic and derail any attempt to develop depth in preparation for the World Cup the following year.
Younger, less-experienced players may be benched in the event of another loss, since the Boks are likely to prioritize experience in order to reduce the chance of losing. As Nienaber said last week, the objective of Test rugby is to win.
It’s not even just about ending their losing skid Down Under; this “final” will determine how the Boks go moving forward and, eventually, how swiftly they can enter World Cup gear as opposed to striving for a decent season win %.
Line-Ups
Australia: 15 Reece Hodge, 14 Tom Wright, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, Seven Fraser McReight, six Jed Holloway, five Matt Philip, four Rory Arnold, three Allan Alaalatoa, two Folau Fainga’a, and one James Slipper make up the top ten (capt)
16 David Porecki, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Darcy Swain, and 20 Rob Leota are replacements. 21 Pete Samu, 22 Jake Gordon, 23 Andrew Kellaway
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Warrick Gelant