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‘We’re physical’: Springboks plan to ‘dominate’ Rugby Championship rivals
By Finn Morton
Two-time defending men’s Rugby World Cup winners South Africa are setting their sights on a title they haven’t won since 2019. The Rugby Championship (TRC) gets underway this weekend and the Springboks appear eager to snap up that prestigious prize.
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South Africa drew 16-all with New Zealand in Wellington in what was the only blip in their otherwise perfect run to glory in the southern hemisphere competition five years ago. They beat Australia 35-17 in Johannesburg and Argentina 46-13 in Salta on August 10.
New Zealand have dominated TRC in the four years since by taking out the title each time but South African rugby fans truly believe a new champion will soon be crowned. The Springboks will take their first step towards what they hope is more silverware on Saturday afternoon.
The Springboks will look to beat the Wallabies at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium for the first time since 2013 in their TRC opener on Saturday afternoon. South Africa will take on the Aussies for a second time next weekend at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
With two Tests on home soil against fierce rivals the All Blacks at Ellis Park and in Cape Town, followed by a home and away fixture against Argentina, this seems like a prime time for the world champions to prove once again why they’re ranked No. 1 in the world.
“There’s been a few discussions around that,” winger Cheslin Kolbe told RugbyPass when asked about the Springboks searching for their first TRC title since 2019.
“Obviously, there’s goals and things that we would love to achieve as a team. For us, it’s not to think far ahead because then you forget about the first hurdle that’s in front of you.
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“For us, obviously the first match against Australia in Brisbane – (we’ll) try and perform as well as we can but it would definitely be great to win another Rugby Championship with a special group… always do South Africa proud.
“That’s why we’re here, that’s what we do it for. We’re all privileged to be here and represent our country. We will take it step by step and game by game.”
Rassie Erasmus has named a Springboks side for their TRC opener that certainly means business. Inspirational captain Siya Kolisi will lead the team into battle, with the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jesse Kriel and Cheslin Kolbe also named to start.
Malcolm Marx, Kwagga Smith and Handre Pollard will all look to provide impact off the bench. From the eight players selected to come off the pine, there are 269 Test caps between them which is an average of more than 30 each.
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This formidable South African outfit will look to rain on Australia’s parade following the host’s run of three wins from as many starts this year. Under new coach Joe Schmidt, the Wallabies got the better of Wales twice before surviving a scare against Georgia in Sydney.
Western Force flanker Carlo Tizzano will debut at openside flanker after Fraser McReight was ruled out with an injury. Allan Alaalatoa will captain the side that boasts exciting talent across the park, including the midfield of Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau.
With a sold-out crowd of about 50,000 set to pack the stands at Suncorp Stadium, the Wallabies will want to repay the faith shown in them by their supporters, but the Springboks remain confident that they can “dominate” physically.
“They’ve been playing well and winning which is a huge thing, especially with a new coach. They’ll get some belief… they are going to be fired up and desperate for another win, especially in a new competition where it is important to win,” halfback Cobus Reinach explained in a one-on-one interview.
“It is important to win your first game because all the teams in the competition want to win The Rugby Championship and you have to start well.
“No team is in here just to say ‘let’s try and beat that team once or that team’, every team wants to win it.
“Starting off with a win will be great but I think we need to start off with a performance that we can be proud of – proud of what we are physically, we’re physical. We try and dominate teams and just put our plan on them.
“If we can walk away with that, I think we’ll walk away with a good result.”
I expect that if the ABs win a game in the republic then the usual result will ensue and NZ will win yet another RC confirming their status as SH's best rugby team.
No doubt SA will be hoping to only play against 14 NZers for as long as possible...
It’s funny how SA not competing for the RC (no, the trinations) in 2020 doesn’t get mentioned much.
But anyway, let’s not cry over spilt milk.
I do fully expect that, should SA win the RC, it will be confirmed as an inferior competition to the 6N.
Worse will be that they only won it because Aus, NZ and Arg are rebuilding.
So the pressure really is on SA to win it convincingly or never hear the end of it.
No doubt some will say its inferior to the 6N (standard wise) but International rugby history does not bear that out. The 6N may have the edge on viewing spectacle with matches all closer geographically, more of them, consistently big crowds live and TV.
SA need to start with a win here obviously. The NZ games will be interesting as NZ will match SA in the scrum and will have watched Ireland's/Aussie attack with interest against the SA defense. That said having Joe Schmidt throw the few curve balls at SA before NZ may be a good thing for SA.