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Wallabies forwards look to ‘meet fire with fire’ against ‘world-class’ Boks
By Finn Morton
When the full-time whistle sounds on Saturday to bring a Test between Australia and South Africa to a close, there can only be one winner. For the result to go the Wallabies’ way, the battle up front will likely play a big part in that.
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Lukhan Salakaia-Loto isn’t shying away from the formidable challenge that awaits the Australians this weekend. The Wallabies may be unbeaten to start the year but their next Test is against “probably” the world’s best team.
The Springboks are the two-time defending men’s Rugby World Cup champions for so many reasons, but the dominance of their forward pack in key Tests was, at times, a significant difference-maker during their run to glory.
Rassie Erasmus famously unleashed ‘the bomb squad’ off the bench time and time again in 2023, but those wearing jerseys one to eight also made their mark in the starting side. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, all forwards contributed to a world-class pack.
While the Wallabies aren’t focusing on making a “statement” with a win over the world champions, there’s no doubt that a tough Test awaits. Whoever is selected will need to be at their best as The Rugby Championship gets underway.
“They’re world-class. Back-to-back world champs. There’s no other way to put it – they’re probably the best in the world right now,” Lukan Salakaia-Loto told reporters on Tuesday.
“It’s not so much about making a statement for us. Our goal is just to win games and this week is another opportunity to do so.
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“For that to happen… we’ve got to be right up for the fight in the tight five and that’s where it starts and ends in games.
“Big challenge, we know what’s coming and we don’t shy away from it. It’s going to be tough but that’s Test footy. We just roll our sleeves up and go to work and do the plan that we’ve set out to do and hopefully that gets us a win.”
At the time of writing, South Africa were about four hours away from releasing their team to face the Wallabies. Australia won’t reveal their team to take on the visitors until Thursday afternoon so specific matchups and the hype that they bring can’t be discussed yet.
But just by looking at the squads that the respective coaches have at their disposal, there’s no doubt that fireworks is expected over the next two weeks. Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph Du Toit are just a few of the players in the mix to wear the Boks’ jersey.
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The Wallabies are without injured backrowers Fraser McReight and Liam Wright for these matches against the Boks but they’ll have the likes of Rob Valetini, Allan Alaalatoa and Salakaia-Loto to potentially call upon.
This will be a war of attrition. It’s often said that Test matches are won up front, and the Wallabies are embracing that challenge head-on as the forward pack looks to “meet fire with fire” at Suncorp Stadium.
“We’re here at home in front of a sell-out so there’s no better arena for it and it’s going to be an awesome challenge,” Salakaia-Loto explained.
“I know the boys are up for it. We don’t expect it to be easy, we know what’s in front of us and we know it’s going to be hard.
“We’ve come to terms with that and we know the world champs at Suncorp – it’s everything that you want to experience.”
The Wallabies will take on the Springboks at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Saturday before taking on the world champions for a second time at Perth’s Optus Stadium on August 17.
