David Campese’s warning to Wallabies that could see them ‘withering on the vine’ against ‘brutal’ Springboks
As the Rugby Championship swings into action this weekend, Wallabies great David Campese joins Planet Rugby to give us his talking points for Saturday’s opener.
Indeed, the first stop is Suncorp Stadium and a mouth-watering clash between Australia, rebuilding under Joe Schmidt, and South Africa, fine tuning under Rassie Erasmus.
Here’s Campese’s five talking points ahead of the Rugby Championship fixture.
Promise at 10
“I am truly excited to see the talents of young Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at 10 for the Springboks,” Campese noted.
“Rarely have I seen such a gifted and intuitive youngster with so much flair and ambition come onto the Test rugby scene and I’d go as far as to say he’s the most exciting prospect in the game right now.
“Rather cleverly, Rassie has slotted him in between two wonderfully experienced Test match performers in Cobus Reinach and Damian de Allende, so he’ll have bags of experience both sides of him to direct his thinking and to get him through the sticky patches as he learns the art of international rugby.
“Add in the way Willie le Roux acts as a dual playmaker and you can see what the Boks are trying to do – get real pace onto the ball at nine and 10 and work with that second distributor to get width onto the ball to their flying wings,” explained the former Wallaby wing.
“I think it’s great that the Boks are not looking to stand still and are prepared to change the way they play in order to get even better. We know their forwards will provide the best platform in the game and with the gifts of young Sacha at 10 we could see an entirely new evolution of the South African team and that says a lot about ambition and appetite within the Springbok camp.”
Wallaby learning
“Whilst Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slides into a settled backline who will hold his hand through the Test, Australia are bedding in new combinations and learning on the job,” Campese continued.
“With Jake Gordon starting, we can expect to see a kicking examination down the channels of the Boks where the Wallabies possibly have an aerial and height advantage. On the flip side of that, the South African wings are fantastic at staying away from the leap contest and they look to pick up loose ball from the drop zone and use their pace for transition attack, something that Australia need to be very wary of.
“However, these are the best we have with the exception of Ben Donaldson – a man I cannot believe isn’t starting for the Wallabies, and at 10 where I believe he could add a lot of value. But that’s not to diss Noah Lolesio who is blooming into a decent Test 10 without having the support around him that Sacha will benefit from.
“Australia have a great back three and a particular strength around the kick reclamation; Tom Wright is the key man here and the Wallabies need to get him running his lines at pace against a broken defence once phase ball has been recycled. However, Test backlines are all about knowing each others’ games and compared to South Africa, the Wallabies are real greenhorns in terms of their international experience and that’s a big hurdle to get over.”
Collision key
“When I watched the South Africa v Ireland Test series, I honestly couldn’t believe the physicality around the collision. It was quite remarkable, absolutely as brutal as I have ever seen, and it’s true to say if the Wallabies don’t match that collision power, then they’re toast. And it’s a hell of an ask too,” Campese warned.
“Australia will miss Fraser McReight, a world class seven, and I’m utterly perplexed as to why Bobby Valetini, our best carrier and a man of huge physicality, starts on the flank rather than at eight where he gets more ball in hand. It’s a bizarre decision and I’ll be interested to see where he actually scrummages on the Australian put in.
“The Wallaby locks are very good players and Nick Frost is a brilliant defender of mauls and reader of opposition lineouts, but they are not blessed with the sheer raw physicality of the behemoth RG Snyman and the great Eben Etzebeth, an all-time great.
“Throw in the fact that the set-piece is likely to go South Africa’s way and I am concerned about where Aus can really get momentum.
“And to compound matters, the Joe Schmidt pop pass phase continuity model, where he craves short offloads into traffic to commit numbers, is, in my opinion, simply playing into the hands of the Springbok defence. With their firepower in the backline, I can see a lot of potential issues coming in terms of transition attack from turnover and it could get ugly if the Aussies don’t win those primary collisions.”
Bench impact
“The other major concern I have is the relative strength and experience of the benches. It’s not only the forwards either, with Grant Williams able to slot in at nine and continue a pacy service when Cobus Reinach tires,” he added.
“South Africa have three two-time world champions in their Bomb Squad, plus a world class hooker and two absolutely first class breakaway forwards in Marco van Staden and Kwagga Smith. It’s not the usual power orientated Bok bench, but one that is based around increasing pressure through pace and handling continuity and that again demonstrates how Erasmus is trying to evolve his team.
“For Australia, Tate McDermott will offer a different style of half-back play to Gordon – he’s a man that will attack the fringes and get pace into the Wallaby game and I just wonder if Schmidt has his scrum-half line-up the wrong way around, as I’d like to see someone with gas and vision attacking the big Bok forwards, especially with Luke Pearce in charge, a man who will major on a flowing game at pace.
“All in all, it’s a massive challenge and when you see players of the quality of Smith, Marx, Koch and Van Staden rumbling on at 60 minutes, it’s often partly about the psychological blow of seeing the level of challenge that the Boks can bring off their bench, a real hallmark of their World Cup campaign.”
Suncorp shines
“Very lastly, the Suncorp has been good to the Wallabies and not so great to the Springboks,” Campese said.
“I’m delighted to report that the stadium is an absolute sell-out and the buzz of anticipation up here on the Gold Coast where I live has been great. As I’ve mentioned many times before Australia has huge eyeball competition for the winter sports and up here both Rugby League and Aussie Rules tend to usurp Union in terms of interest, so it’s a massive achievement for the ARU to have a capacity crowd.
“The last four meetings between the teams at Suncorp (or Lang Park) have fallen the Wallabies way. 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2021 all went the way of Australia, even if the matches were very close, so from an Aussie perspective, it’s our little fortress up here and we know that the crowd and the history is a little bit of an advantage for us and will sew a little seed of doubt in the minds of the Boks.
“But overall, the magnitude of the task is huge for Australia; a side in progress against the world champions going through a process of marginal improvement smacks of one way traffic, so I hope that Australia play the Aussie way – heads up, ambitious and attacking – as I’d rather see us use our strengths and ask questions rather than trying to compete in areas that aren’t our strength and, as a result, withering on the vine.”
