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What the Boks expect from Eddie Jones' fired up Wallabies

Head coach Eddie Jones talks to players during the Australian Wallabies training session at Sanctuary Cove on June 29, 2023 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

South Africa are fully focused on winning this year’s Rugby Championship ahead of their World Cup defence in France, Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen said as they prepare to face Australia in their tournament opener in Pretoria.

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The Boks are to employ a split squad tactic this year and will send a number of first-team players to New Zealand this week to acclimatise ahead of their second Rugby Championship fixture against the All Blacks in Auckland on July 15.

It was a tactic they employed successfully in 2019 when they won both the Rugby Championship and World Cup in Japan.

It means they will field players from their wider squad for the Australia game on Saturday, but Esterhuizen says this should in no way be construed as the Boks taking the game, or the competition, lightly.

“This series (Rugby Championship) is a stepping stone for us to start moving in the right direction. We have to get things right now before the end goal (the World Cup),” he told rep orters on Monday.

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“It has been a good three weeks (of training) together and we are all on the same page. We know what the goal is for the next four weeks. Everyone is happy and knows where they stand.”

Australia will play their first game under returning coach Eddie Jones having not won in six previous meetings with the Boks at Loftus Versfeld.

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“I think the Aussies always come to South Africa trying to make a statement,” Esterhuizen said. “So we can expect a hard and good match, especially with Eddie taking the reins again.”

“They will have a few things up their sleeves, and they are going to come with a lot of motivation because he (Jones) knows how to get a team fired up for a game.”

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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