Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick is expecting to face a “highly motivated” Wallabies side in their Rugby Championship opener on Saturday.
The match in Pretoria kicks off this year’s truncated tournament that will see teams play each other just once due to the looming Rugby World Cup.
All games are subsequently extra important in the race for silverware, with the Boks and Wallabies eager to get an early advantage on their rivals.
Big game at Loftus
Australia will also be desperate to end their drought at Loftus Versfeld having never won there before, with Stick ready for a tough opening match.
“A Test against Australia is always big,” he said. “The match was sold-out a long time ago, and the boys are excited. So it’s going to be a big game.
“They have a strong team and they’ll be up for it. We’ve tried to analyse them and we know what we’ve looked at won’t be 100% correct because Eddie (Jones) can take the players to dark places to get the best out of them.
“Having been involved with the Springboks in 2007 he also knows South Africa’s strengths, so we are expecting to face a team that is highly motivated and who will want to impress Eddie.
“They’ll come to Pretoria wanting to change history.”
South Africa’s side to face Australia has been selected with their Round Two fixture against the All Blacks in mind, as several players are absent.
That has allowed the Springboks to split their focus on their opening games, with Stick looking forward to seeing what the players can do at Loftus.
“There’s a big feeling of excitement in the squad, especially with it being a Rugby World Cup year,” he said.
“The balance of youth and experience in this team excites me, and there are some guys coming back from injury. So, I like what I’m seeing.
“That said, we know if we are not at our best, it could be a long day because this is a good Australian side and they have a lot of experienced players in the squad.”
New Bok captain
Duane Vermeulen will skipper South Africa this weekend and he has warned his troops they must be able to think fast against the dangerous Wallabies.
“We have to be adaptable,” he said.
“We have our plan, and they’ll have theirs, but we’ll have to see how things play out and make plans accordingly. It will come down to us stopping what they bring.”
On leading the Springboks, Vermeulen added: “It’s unbelievable to have the honour of leading a Springbok team, and we’ll go out there and give our best.
“There are a few players in the team that have captained their club or franchise teams, so we can make decisions together.”
READ MORE: Rugby Championship preview: Springboks’ forwards to power them to victory over Wallabies
The article Springboks coach wary of Eddie Jones-factor as Wallabies will be ‘up for it’ in Rugby Championship opener appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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