It will be a tough and short week for the Boks
BRISBANE RECORD POOR
AUSTRALIAN tours are tough, but arriving yesterday before a Test, on the back of a game the previous weekend, makes it even tougher for the Springboks.
The 31-man Bok party that arrived in Brisbane yesterday will not have a full training session today and tomorrow. It’s a short week.
That ’ s why most of the preparation for Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium were done during the past fortnight.
The Boks came out of a clash against the World XV on Saturday, which they won 46-10, clear on the injury front. That will allow coach Heyneke Meyer to pick the team he had in mind.
He said after Saturday’s win at Newlands that there would be changes this weekend and it’s likely that tighthead prop Frans Malherbe will be brought back into the 23-man squad along with Lionel Mapoe. Malherbe is likely to replace Vincent Koch and Mapoe could come in for Jean de Villiers, who stayed behind to continue his rehabilitation.
Meyer is likely to stick with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in the centre, giving the latter his first Test cap after an impressive showing against the World XV at the weekend.
“We ’ ve usually travelled to Australia on a bye weekend, giving us one extra day to prepare, but we don’t have it this year and we’ll have to make sure we hit the ground running on Tuesday [today],” Meyer said.
“We worked on a couple of new things since we got together and the match against the World XV was a good barometer to see where we stand. The challenge this week would be to improve on certain aspects of the game and to fine-tune others.”
The Boks’ record in Brisbane is unimpressive – losing 9 of 12 meetings.