The Springboks won’t be taking the Wallabies lightly in their Rugby Championship opener on Saturday in Brisbane and will be wary of Australia’s gamesmanship tactics.

That’s the word from scrum-half Cobus Reinach, who admitted that the Springboks have previously looked past the matches against Australia with ‘tougher games’ lying ahead.

South Africa have a rather poor recent record Down Under having beaten Australia in their own backyard just once in their last five meetings and haven’t won at Suncorp Stadium since 2013.

Not taking Australia lightly

The scrum-half explains that the side have changed tack this time around and are more week-to-week focused.

“Sometimes in the last few years, we would look past Australia because we had maybe New Zealand after and we didn’t prepare as well as we should have because there were more games to come and tougher games to come, but we’re not doing that anymore,” Reinach explained when asked about the Boks’ record against the Wallabies.

“But now, we focus just on what’s coming this weekend and we don’t care about next weekend and how we going to prep for that fixture, we are just focusing on the here and now and what we need to do as a team to get the win.

“Again, we just want to put a performance out there that is worthy of our people.”

Nic White and the Wallabies’ gamesmanship

An experienced campaigner, Reinach could line up against Wallabies number nine Nic White once again with the pair having gone toe-to-toe for both club and country, facing off in Super Rugby and in the Premiership during their respective stints at Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs.

Like many scrum-halves, particularly Australian ones ala George Gregan, White is renowned for his gamesmanship and never shies away from a little dig or sledge to get into the opposition’s head.

In the 2022 meeting between the two sides, White was slammed for his simulation at the back of the scrum which led to a yellow card for Faf de Klerk and helped the Wallabies to victory over the Boks. That same year, Eben Etzebeth and Allan Alaalatoa locked horns after an altercation that riled up the Bok lock.

Reinach revealed that the Springboks are wary of these Australians’ tactics and they will aim to stay calm as they attempt to end the drought for a victory in Brisbane.

“Nic is a great player and bloke off the field but in the game, he likes to get in your head with a sledge, push and a shove,” Reinach said.

“But those are just his tactics to get you off task, we have spoken about it and that we have to stay calm and do our job.

“I’m not sure if he will play or not but it won’t just be him who will come up with the tactics to irritate us, it’s the way they go about their game and we will do our best to control ourselves.”

According to a report by ROAR Sports, White will not be lining up against Reinach with Jake Gordon set to be included in the run-on team. Queensland Reds star Tate McDermott or White could come off the bench.