Humbled at Ellis Park and stripped of their number one world ranking, the Wallabies know the Springboks will be out for revenge.
The Wallabies expect the Springboks to fix the mistakes they made at Ellis Park and maintain the intensity of the first 20 minutes when they face them in Cape Town this Saturday.
The South Africans came out guns blazing in their opening Rugby Championship match last weekend. They scored three tries and a penalty to go 22–0 up in the first 18 minutes. But they lost their focus somewhat, while the Australians capitalised on small margins in the game and scored six unanswered tries to record a famous 38–22 victory.
While Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus described his side’s performance as “really dog sh*t”, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said the match was closer than the scoreline reflected.
Without diminishing his players’ good performance, especially at the breakdown, he said the Australians were a “little lucky” with a couple of loose balls, poor passes, last-ditch tackles and a “lapse in effort and concentration” on the part of the Springboks after their strong start.
Visiting teams normally struggle to maintain their intensity at altitude. But while the Wallabies only grew in theirs, the Springboks appeared to lose energy. Captain Siya Kolisi explained that the Australians had sapped their energy by quashing their chances.
‘They will come out firing’
After being humbled at their Ellis Park fortress and losing their number one world ranking, the Wallabies know the Springboks will be out for revenge.
“They will come out firing, we know that,” said 22-year-old centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who intercepted a poor pass from Manie Libbok to score a breakaway try on the night.
“After a loss you tend to lick your wounds. They’ll be the same they were in the first 18 minutes but for the whole 80. So we need to be at our best, and we will be.”
Scrumhalf Tate McDermott, who played well coming on from the bench in the 48th minute, said the Springboks “tore us to threads” with tries from Kurt-Lee Arendse, André Esterhuizen and Siya Kolisi early on.
“The Springboks are a world-class side. What they did in the first 20 minutes… So we know they are coming and they are coming hard,” he said. “We’ve been talking a lot about how we’ve been turning in the right direction, and that was another step. But it doesn’t mean much if we don’t back it up this weekend.”
Wallabies will have no problem with wet weather
McDermott was asked how the Wallabies would handle the cooler weather and rain expected in Cape Town on Saturday.
He referred to the last test played against the Lions, in torrential weather in Sydney. In the second half, the game was halted for 30 minutes due to lightning strikes within 10km of the stadium.
“We’ve had a little bit of experience this year playing in those conditions,” the scrumhalf said. “Whenever you play against the Boks, your forward pack has to be brilliant. They were very good on the weekend.
“The challenge for them is then repeating that now that guys like [Eben] Etzebeth will be absolutely raring to go. It will be a great challenge and they will have to step up again.”
