The 2023 Rugby Championship will get underway this week, with South Africa taking on Australia at Loftus Versfeld in the eagerly-awaited opening match of the tournament on Saturday afternoon.
With the Rugby World Cup now within touching distance, teams from across the world are adding the final tweaks and touches to their national squads before they head off to France in September.
Match preview
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The reigning world champions will kick off the Rugby Championship campaign in Pretoria, which is a venue that the Wallabies have never beaten them at before.
Jacques Nienaber has been made to earn his paycheck over the last month, having to keep on top of players returning from injury and abroad, as well as scouting fresh faces following a chaotic period when the likes of the Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls were involved in as many as three tournaments simultaneously.
The South African franchise clubs put on excellent showings at the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup tournaments earlier this year, which has led to the likes of Canan Moodie and Manie Libbok earning call-ups to the national squad for the upcoming Tests.
As expected, all the talk in the lead-up to this match has been around the team selection for the Springboks and with just seven days and 12,000 kilometres between matches, Nienaber has already dispatched 14 players down under to acclimatise themselves, including skipper Siya Kolisi, Malcolm Marx and Eben Etzebeth.
With a record of four wins and two losses in their last six matches, South Africa have slipped to fourth in the world rankings over the last year, with New Zealand marginally ahead of them in third place behind France and Ireland in second and first respectively.
South Africa beat Australia comprehensively by a scoreline of 24-8 in the most recent encounter back in September last year, but that came the week after they suffered a 25-17 loss to the Wallabies, though that match was played at the Adelaide Oval.
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It is no secret that Australian rugby has been going through a transition phase over the last few years, and they come into this competition currently ranked seventh in the world, with only Argentina, Wales and Japan below them in the top 10.
However, all eyes will be on Eddie Jones, who returns to the Australian dugout 20 years after leading the Wallabies to the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, and he will be tasked with returning the team to the heights he managed before heading to England.
Jones is famous for playing mind games with opponents and has been fairly quiet about the style of rugby his side will be playing, but he has included a few heavy hitters in the side, none more so than La Rochelle's Will Skelton.
Australia will have the added advantage of Jones's knowledge of the opposition on their side as he was employed as an advisor to the Springboks team that lifted the 2007 Rugby World Cup and led Japan to an unlikely win over the South Africans in the 2015 instalment.
Another key aspect in favour of the visitors is that many of their opponents have not played a competitive game of rugby since early May when the URC concluded, while several of their own players were still involved in Super Rugby under a month ago.
The visitors have only beaten Wales and Scotland in their last six matches, but with the backline that South Africa have gone with for this Test, there will likely be cracks that the Australians can exploit, and Jones will be desperate to do just that as he aims to start his new reign on the front foot.
South Africa form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
Australia form (all competitions):
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
Both sides have already announced the teams that will take the field on Saturday, and while Nienaber has sent most of his best players to New Zealand already, the South African coach remains adamant that he has not selected a B team for this encounter.
In the absence of Kolisi, Duane Vermeulen will lead the Springboks for the third time in his career from the back of the scrum, with Libbock set to make his fourth appearance, though it will be the first start of his career at fly-half.
Ox Nche was originally included in the prop position for this match, but after suffering a pectoral muscle injury, he has been pulled from the squad, with Steven Kitshoff stepping in as his replacement in the frontline.
Former Ireland international and Munster lock Jean Kleyn has been cleared to join the Springboks and will make his Test debut in this one alongside Marvin Orie, Marco van Staden and Pieter-Steph du Toit in the second row.
Meanwhile, the Wallabies head coach will be bringing as many as four debutants to Pretoria, while co-captain James Slipper has managed to overcome a knee injury to take his place in the starting 15.
Carter Gordon, Richie Arnold and Zane Nonggorr are the three players that will be hoping to come off the bench for their first cap in this match, while 22-year-old Tom Hooper will play from the start joining Michael Hooper and Rob Valetini.
Slipper, David Porecki and Allan Alaalatoa will form the frontline in front of Nick Frost and Skelton, while Nic White and Quade Cooper will make up the halves pairing, with the latter preparing to play in South Africa for the first time since 2013.
South Africa starting lineup: 15. Willie le Roux, 14. Canan Moodie, 13. Lukhanyo Am, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Marvin Orie, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16. Joseph Dweba, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. RG Snyman, 20. Evan Roos, 21. Deon Fourie, 22. Grant Williams, 23. Damian Willemse
Australia starting lineup: 15. Tom Wright, 14. Suliasi Vunivalu, 13. Len Ikitau, 12. Reece Hodge, 11. Marika Koroibete, 10. Quade Cooper, 9. Nic White, 8. Rob Valetini, 7. Michael Hooper, 6. Tom Hooper, 5. Will Skelton, 4. Nick Frost, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 2. David Porecki, 1. James Slipper
Replacements: 16. Jordan Uelese, 17. Matt Gibbon, 18. Zane Nonggorr, 19. Richie Arnold, 20. Pete Samu, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Samu Kerevi, 23 Carter Gordon
Head To Head
There have been 92 previous meetings between these sides in all competitions, and the Springboks currently lead the head-to-head standings with 49 wins, while Australia have won 40 and three matches have ended in a draw.
South Africa have an excellent record on home soil, winning 36 of their 47 encounters against the Wallabies, with one match also ending level.
Australia have never beaten South Africa at Loftus Versfeld since their first visit in 1963.
We say: South Africa 24-10 Australia
Despite Nienaber opting for a less experienced team than the one we envision in New Zealand next week, his current Springbok lineup possesses more than enough quality to get the job done in this one.
Changing coaches so close to a World Cup is a risky tactic, but Jones is a veteran and will know that matches are not won on paper. We fancy Australia to give a good account of themselves here, but the Springboks should get the victory.
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Devesh Jaganath
