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Ireland prepared Springboks ‘really well’ for Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies
By Finn Morton
Two-time Rugby World Cup winner RG Snyman believes the Springboks couldn’t have “had better preparation” for The Rugby Championship than playing Ireland in a couple of enthralling Test matches last month.
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That two-Test series will be spoken about for years to come. The brewing rugby rivalry between South Africa and Ireland was both renewed and intensified across a couple of unforgettable Tests at Loftus Versfeld and Kings Park.
South Africa, who had lost to Ireland during pool play at last year’s Rugby World Cup before claiming the sport’s ultimate prize for a fourth time, landed the first blow with a 27-20 win in Pretoria to open the series.
One week later, the world champions were within seconds of wrapping up a clean sweep of wins before replacement Ciaran Frawley stood tall as the hero that Ireland needed. Frawley converted a clutch drop goal to hand the visitors a 25-24 win in Durban.
That was only Ireland’s second win over the Springboks in South Africa. It was a historic result that saw the Irish claim a moral series victory and some bragging rights over the world’s top-ranked side, but the Springboks are taking the learnings out of that before facing the Wallabies.
“I don’t think we could have had better preparation than facing Ireland going into The Rugby Championship, and we certainly learned a few things in those matches which we would like to carry into this competition,” RG Snyman said.
“Ireland prepared us really well for playing against Australia because they’ve a lot of systems that (Australia coach) Joe Schmidt set up during his time there.
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“There will be some differences stylistically between the two teams but in a lot of ways there will be similarities come set-piece time but we are looking forward to that challenge.
“There will certainly be some differences, with the style of play that Australia bring and the players they have,” he added later on.
“I think, in a lot of ways, there will be similarities too.”
Australia will be riding a wave of confidence going into The Rugby Championship after recording wins over Wales and Georgia to start their new era under coach Joe Schmidt. Their four wins in a row, dating back to the World Cup, is the longest active winning run of any men’s tier-one side.
Following the 40-29 win over Georgia at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium – not to be confused with London’s Twickenham which is set to carry the same name soon – Schmidt insisted that South Africa would be at “a whole different level.”
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The Wallabies have included six uncapped players in their squad for TRC including Olympian Corey Toole and Western Force flanker Carlo Tizzano – with Tizzano finishing this year’s Super Rugby Pacific season with the most tackles out of any player despite not playing finals.
Test veteran Marika Koroibete is also back in the mix for the first time this year, and world-class prop Angus Bell is in line to return from a lengthy stint on the sidelines with an injury. There are some big omissions through injury, though, so it’s not all good news for the Aussies.
But the Springbok aren’t taking this challenge lightly. They’ve been in Australia for a little bit now as they continue to get used to the conditions and the time difference before facing the Wallabies in Brisbane on August 10 and then Perth on August 17.
“Arriving in Australia the week before the Test was beneficial because it allowed us more time to overcome the jet lag, and especially outside of the Test week itself,” Snyman explained.
“The guys are now well settled into the time zone and we are training full-out and feel good, so we are excited about Saturday’s match.”
