Boks can expose leaky Wallaby defence out wide
WHILE the Springboks have been at pains to insist that they won’t suddenly change their percentage game plan to please the rest of the world, the Wallabies’ performance against the All Blacks yesterday may have broadened their horizons somewhat.
The South Africans take on Australia at the CBUS Super Stadium on the Gold Coast on Sunday (12.05pm kick-off - SA Time), and would’ve watched the Perth encounter with great interest.
And what Jacques Nienaber and his team would have seen was how vulnerable the Aussies are in defence out wide, among numerous issues
Dave Rennie needs to sort out ahead of their showdown with the world champions.
The Boks will stick with their hard-grind approach that was evident against the Lions and Argentina this year, where they will play territory, win their set-pieces and take their three-point penalties.
But that is not to be disparaging about their attacking approach, which has improved with every game, and they will look to reach their peak against the Wallabies and All Blacks over the next four weekends.
The Australians were all over the show against the New Zealanders, who even survived a controversial red card to fullback Jordie Barrett – with the new rules allowing them to bring on Damian McKenzie as a replacement after 20 minutes – to cruise to a 38-21 victory.
One of the main worries for Rennie this week will be solving the defensive lapses, especially out wide. The Kiwis didn’t do anything particularly spectacular with ball-in-hand – the Wallabies just slipped off too many tackles, and gave their opponents easy metres in the wider channels.
The Boks are well-equipped to exploit such weaknesses on Sunday. Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi are world-class operators and finishers, while assistant coach Mzwandile Stick again mentioned Willie le Roux on Friday as someone who is “one of the best guys to see space around the field”.
Add in the fact that Faf de Klerk should be reunited with Handre Pollard as the halfbacks, and the South Africans will find holes in the Aussie defence if they vary their play cleverly.
Apart from accurate passing, little chip kicks and grubbers could also cause the Wallabies serious problems if they have to scramble back in defence. The Australian backs showed against the All Blacks that they are dangerous going forward, while the likes of lock Izack Rodda, loose forward Pete Samu and scrumhalf Nic White brought some spark off the bench.
Of course, apart from De Klerk, stalwart No 8 Duane Vermeulen is fit and raring to go for the Boks after a lengthy absence.