The Boks and All Blacks have simply accomplished two blockbuster head-to-head battles within the Rugby Championship, which resulted in contrasting fortunes. In the opening sport, the Springboks overpowered New Zealand nearly from begin to end, and got here away with a powerful victory.
Yet, only a week later the guests produced a much-improved displaying, and handled the Boks’ set-pieces and aerial sport much better. In the tip, the All Blacks bounced again to assert a convincing victory of their very own.
BREAKING: SPRINGBOKS UNVEIL TEAM TO FACE WALLABIES
The Springboks will now head into a vital Rugby Championship conflict towards Australia in Adelaide, the place they are going to be determined to get again to successful methods.
Coach Jacques Nienaber has notably made three modifications to the replacements bench, which contains a break up of 5 forwards and three backs, the place Hendrikse takes over from Herschel Jantjies, whereas Elton Jantjies will present flyhalf cowl and Frans Steyn extra cowl on the again. Willie le Roux and Jasper Wiese usually are not within the match-23 this weekend.
On at least three events already this yr, the Boks have suffered an early harm to certainly one of their backline gamers, which has led to a very difficult scenario as a result of reliance on a six-two forwards-to-backs bench.
BREAKING | RASSIE ERASMUS WILL TOUR WITH THE SPRINGBOKS
However, Nienaber has reverted again to a five-three break up for this Saturday’s towards the Wallabies, and has defined why.
“We looked at what Australia will bring to the game, and that combined with our need to give Elton and Frans Steyn some vital game time, prompted us to select five forwards and three backs on the bench.
“With Franco (Mostert) and Kwagga (Smith) on the bench, we will have cover at lock and looseforward, while Frans Steyn’s versatility will also be handy as he can cover centre and fullback. These changes obviously mean that Willie, Jasper and Herschel lose out, but we know what we have in them and what they bring to the team.”
Notably, in his column for Sport24, former nationwide coach Nick Mallett retierated that the Springboks ought to transfer away from the much-used six-two forwards-to-backs break up on the bench.
“The real issue facing this team presently, I think, is the 6/2 bench split that has landed the Boks in trouble for three straight Tests now,” he wrote. “It’s a real problem when you have to make virtually three changes to your backline when one player gets injured.
“If you get a wing going off early, as Jesse Kriel did on Saturday, you suddenly have to make a lot of changes. We saw Damian Willemse go to inside centre, Damian de Allende to outside centre and, even worse, Lukhanyo Am moved to the wing after Kriel left the fray. That is a lot of reshuffling.
“I don’t care how well Am played on the wing. You’ve got the best No 13 in the world – both on attack and defence – and he is invaluable in terms of closing down options and shutting down space in midfield.
“Willemse is playing so well at the moment and could easily slot into inside centre, which he did, but I think the more sensible play would have been to move De Allende – and not Am – to the wing, where he started his career. That keeps your critical defender in his proper position.
“Am had an excellent game and can obviously do a job on the wing, but I don’t think De Allende had a very good game at outside centre where he has less experience. His understanding of running up and closing space wasn’t as good as Am’s, which was to be expected.
“The big issue with the 6/2 split in its present form is how it impacts the defensive alignment of the Springbok backline. The attack was fine, and they scored two very good tries, but the Boks were nowhere near where they should be defensively.
“Willemse was one of the best centres in the United Rugby Championship, and his tackling and reading of the game were standout features. I don’t think the Boks would have lost anything, defensively, if they had paired him with Am in midfield.
“These things are easy to say in hindsight, but the Dweba performance could have predicted given what we saw against Wales and knowing how well New Zealand can compete on the lineout.
“The mistakes the Boks made early in the game were down to hooker mistakes, putting them under pressure and taking away any early momentum. I think that is an area they will need to relook, heading into their two Tests against the Wallabies.”
BOKS TEAM TO FACE AUSTRALIA IN ADELAIDE:
15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 20 caps, 12 pts (1t, 2c, 1p)
14 – Warrick Gelant (Racing 92) – 10 caps, 15 pts (3t)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 30 caps, 30 pts (6t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 62 caps, 35 pts (7t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 29 caps, 105 pts (21t)
10 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 64 caps, 662 pts (7t, 90c, 144p, 5d)
9 – Faf de Klerk (Yokohama Canon Eagles) – 39 caps, 25 pts (5t)
8 – Duane Vermeulen (Ulster) – 62 caps, 15 pts (3t)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 62 caps, 25 pts (5t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 67 caps, 35 pts (7t)
5 – Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 60 caps, 25 pts (5t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks) – 102 caps, 15 pts (3t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 – Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0pts
1 – Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks) – 11 caps, 0pts
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 51 caps, 55 pts (11t)
17 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 63 caps, 5 pts (1t)
18 – Vincent Koch (Wasps) 36 caps, 0 pts
19 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 55 caps, 5pts (1t)
20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)
21 – Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks) – 6 caps, 5 pts (1t)
22 – Elton Jantjies (NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes) – 45 caps, 329 pts (2t, 65c, 62p, 1d)
23 – Frans Steyn (Toyota Cheetahs) – 74 caps, 150 pts (11t, 7c, 24p, 3d)
EXCLUSIVE | SPRINGBOKS STAY THIRD IN WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS – BUT ONLY JUST!
Springbok file towards the Wallabies in Australia:
Played 41; Won 12; Lost 27; Drawn 2; Points for: 685, Points towards: 900; Tries scored 80, Tries conceded 91; Highest rating 38-12 in Brisbane (2013); Biggest win 26 factors in Brisbane (2013). Win % 29%.
Milestones:
- Handre Pollard wants one level to earn 50 Test factors towards Australia.
- Joseph Dweba will play his first Test towards Australia, with Jaden Hendrikse additionally on debut towards the Wallabies if he takes the sphere.
Miscellaneous:
- The whole Test caps for the Springbok beginning line-up is 671.
- There are 254 caps within the backline with 417 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are an extra 353 caps.
- The common caps per participant within the backline are 36, the forwards 52, whereas the gamers on the bench common 44.