Kolbe in doubt as Davids says Boks won’t look too much into recent Wallaby results
SPRINGBOK assistant coach Deon Davids is confident that they are adequately prepared for the away leg of their Rugby Championship campaign, which kicks off against hosts Australia on Sunday.
While they hadn’t played any rugby for 20 months prior to their first international fixture in early July, the Boks had a run against Georgia, the three Tests in the British & Irish Lions series, and two against Argentina, while they also got some game time in SA A gear against Warren Gatland’s team.
Out of those six Tests, they lost just one – their series opener against the Lions.
Speaking during a media briefing yesterday, the forwards coach was asked about the Boks’ readiness to take on Australasian opposition, to which he responded: “I think we had a very hectic schedule before this.
“We had the Lions series and played very competitive games against Argentina. We have had some time to recover and time to spend some time on the areas that we felt we needed to work on.
“I think it (preparation) has been good for the team, and we are looking forward to this game.
“We have a lot of areas that we still want to improve on. Australia are a quality side, they are very well coached,” added Davids before going on to explain why the Boks not reading too much into the Wallabies’ recent results against the All Blacks.
“I won’t look too much into their recent results. If they are playing so much rugby against a side like the All Blacks, they can only get better, both in terms of building the team and building experience.
“They created so many opportunities and perhaps they can say they let themselves down in terms of execution, but I think we will be making a mistake if we see this as any less than a hard, challenging Test.”
At the weekend, the All Blacks completed a Bledisloe Cup clean sweep over the Wallabies in front of a near-capacity crowd of 52 724 at Perth Stadium.
Considering that domestic and international games have been played in empty stadiums in South Africa since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, playing in front of a lively crowd will no doubt be an adaptation for the Boks.
But it’s something they’re looking forward to, Davids said.
“I think our players are really excited to play in front of a capacity crowd again. It has been some time. It’s of course something we are going to have to adapt to in terms of communication, but it will be fantastic to play in front of a big crowd again,” he said.
Meanwhile, Davids also confirmed that star wing Cheslin Kolbe is a doubt for Sunday’s match after taking a knock to his leg during last Friday’s training session, and added that a call on his selection would be made today.
The Test against the Wallabies will kick off at 12.05pm.