After a lopsided opening match at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia and South Africa head to the Optus Stadium in Perth to face off in the second round of the 2024 Rugby Championship on Saturday morning.
In an exhilarating first week in the battle of the Southern Hemisphere giants, South Africa delivered a commanding performance in their opening match of the competition, as they romped to a 33-7 victory.
Match preview
When the final whistle blew at Suncorp Stadium last Saturday, the scoreline clearly illustrated the significant disparity between the teams, as Australia struggled to make an impact, while South Africa ended their Brisbane jinx with an impressive performance.
The Springboks dominated the match from the off and showcased their customary aggressive and physical style of play, which proved too much for the Wallabies, who were forced into several unforced errors and struggled to match the world champions' intensity.
From a South African perspective, the focus of the nation was on their new fly-half sensation Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who had generated significant buzz after his impressive performances against Ireland last month.
As it turned out, the 22-year-old Western Province number 10 did not disappoint, as he spurred the Boks attack to life with his expansive style and excellent distribution, totting up 15 passes, including an assist, while also picking up 34 metres in gains from seven carries across the 80.
In the pack, it was much of the same, with the Wallabies' front line proving no match for the likes of Frans Malherbe and the powerful Ox Nche, who forced their opponents into giving away three scrum penalties.
Based on last week's performance, it is difficult to suggest that the upcoming match is likely to pan out much differently, though the Boks have lined up a number of changes, seemingly already preparing for the match against New Zealand next weekend.
For Australia, the result proved that very little progress has been made since the departure of Eddie Jones, and Joe Schmidt clearly has a long way to go until his side seem likely to be able to challenge the top four sides in the world.
Not only was his side overpowered by the Boks' physicality, but they were noticeably sloppy elsewhere too, missing makeable kicks and losing lineouts, while failing to create much space for their wide men to work in.
Perhaps the only positives in an otherwise awful outing were the performances of Carlo Tizzano, who notched up 19 tackles against the Boks' big men, and Hunter Paisami, who earned the side decent carry metres and scored the Wallabies' only try of the match.
Still, the result was a significant one for both teams as it marked the end of Australia's incredible run of form in Brisbane and was also the South African's first triumph at the ground since 2013.
Australia Rugby Championship form:
- L
Australia form (all competitions):
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
South Africa Rugby Championship form:
- W
South Africa form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
Team News
Schmidt has made a few notable changes for the second match of the competition, with the first being an enforced one in Marika Koroibete being brought in for his first cap since the World Cup for the injured Filipo Daugunu.
Paisami's solid performance last week sees him keep his spot in midfield alongside Len Ikitau, while Tizzano is also retained in the starting 15 and will line up alongside Rob Valetini and Harry Wilson in the back row.
As briefly mentioned above, Rassie Erasmus has made a total of 10 changes for this week's trip to Perth, one of which is the return of Lukhanyo Am, who will now operate at inside centre in place of Damian de Allende.
In the back three, Erasmus has opted to hand youngster Aphelele Fassi and Makazole Mapimpi starts in place of Willie le Roux and Kurt-Lee Arendse, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be joined in the halves pairing by Morne van den Berg.
Australia starting lineup: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Angus Blyth, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Josh Nasser, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 James Slipper,18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Tom Hooper, 20 Seru Uru, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Max Jorgensen
South Africa starting lineup: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Handre Pollard
We say: Australia 14-34 South Africa
Given the changes made by both teams, we are expecting to see a slightly improved performance from the Wallabies, but we doubt that it will be enough to avoid another fairly hefty defeat at the hands of the world champions.
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