Will Rassie's Springboks be rusty against the hardened Wallabies or hit the ground running?

COMMENT

The form of the All Blacks and the Wallabies in their respective series Down Under raises the question of whether the Springboks will be undercooked in the Rugby Championship compared to their chief rivals.

The New Zealanders won a close-fought series against France 3-0; the Wallabies have been going hammer and tongs with the British and Irish Lions, while the Boks had comparatively low-key games against Italy and Georgia.

The other Rugby Championship team, the Pumas, had a disappointing start to their international season, losing a home series to an England side bereft of a host of players who are in Australia with the Lions.

Perhaps, more pertinently, the Springboks used their block of four matches for experimentation, with coach Rassie Erasmus making 10 changes per match and giving nearly 40 players game time. He also blooded newcomers such as front-rowers Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), and utility forward Cobus Wiese (Bulls).

The South Africans have indeed taken a different route to the Rugby Championship compared to New Zealand and Australia, and it is difficult to say who is right or wrong — there are different ways to skin a cat when it comes to preparing for a tournament.

It could be argued that the chopping and changing has denied what will be the first-choice Springbok team any opportunity to play as a combination and build form.

A counter-argument is that Erasmus’ ideal team has played together so much over the last few years that they do not need warm-up matches as a unit, and keeping the players fresh is a greater priority — especially given that the Boks will play 14 matches this year, between July and November.

The Bok combination that plays Australia at Ellis Park on 16 August will back themselves to hit the ground running because they know each other so well.

The one thing Erasmus perhaps wasn’t counting on was that Australia would be much better than he probably anticipated during his planning.

The Wallabies went into their series against the Lions ranked eighth in the World Rugby rankings — an embarrassing position for a team that has won two World Cups. It was predicted they would lose the series 3-0, and while that might still happen, the Wallabies should have won last week’s second Test.

They were 30 seconds away from levelling the series thanks to a magnificent performance that was a world away from their disappointing showing in the first Test.

Coach Joe Schmidt has done a fine job in fixing the Wallabies, and he will remain in charge for their two matches in South Africa before handing over to incoming coach Les Kiss.

It will be interesting to see whether the Aussies kick on in South Africa after the high of the Lions series, or whether they find the Rugby Championship an anti-climax.

Looking at a possible Bok side for the first Test, it is difficult to see beyond proven match-winners. The half-back combination is one of the few areas of debate. At 10, the three horses running neck and neck are Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, and Handré Pollard. It won’t matter a great deal whom Erasmus picks.

Ditto scrum-half, although form would suggest Grant Williams is a short head in front of the other two nines in the squad, Cobus Reinach and Morne van den Berg.

Possible Springboks team v Australia

15 Damian Willemse 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9 Grant Williams 8 Kwagga Smith 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 6 Siya Kolisi (captain) 5 Lood de Jager 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Wilco Louw 2 Malcolm Marx 1 Ox Nche.