SPOTLIGHT: The intensity and the physicality the Wallabies are experiencing against the British and Irish Lions could put them in good stead for their two-match tour against the Springboks in August.
There is a growing view that Joe Schmidt’s side will be battle-hardened by the time the Rugby Championship starts, and Bok head coach Rassie Erasmus has taken that into account in his preparations.
The Springboks haven’t had a high-profile start to their season with opposition in the form of the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia.
Erasmus also used those matches for experimentation and blooding new talent, while the Wallabies have had some consistency with selection, and they nearly saved the series in that second Test against the Lions.
There’s also that four-week gap between the Boks’ last Test against Georgia (July 19) and the Rugby Championship opener against Australia on August 16.
However, Rassie is confident that his training sessions will help his players cope with the intensity that the Wallabies could throw at them.
“The one way of looking at it is that Eben Etzebeth trains against RG Snyman, Lood [de Jager] against Ruan [Nortje]. There’s also Siya [Kolisi] against Marco [van Staden], Malcolm [Marx] against Bongi [Mbonambi], and Ox [Nche] against Vincent [Koch],” said Erasmus.
“If your training sessions are proper with intensity and intent, then you probably have eight weeks of good preparation.
“The physicality that Italy and Georgia brought certainly wouldn’t be less than what Australia will bring.
“However, Australia definitely has more rounded players who are used to playing Super Rugby and now they have played the British and Irish Lions.
“So, they [Wallabies] will be either 0-3 [against the B&I Lions] and then they will be hard-up to come here and win, or they win the last Test match after they could’ve won the second one.
Erasmus added: “It all depends on how Joe [Schmidt] and his coaching staff and their players handle that.
“We don’t know what players are going to get on that flight; we just know that we’ve got another three weeks to prepare for them.
“It will be a [Wallaby] team that is used to playing against New Zealand teams [in Super Rugby].
“The one point is that they might be really battle-ready, or they might be flat or punch-drunk.
“They might have three injuries in one position, and then they might be in trouble.
“I think they will take a lot of heart out of the previous game. They are going to do really well again this weekend.”
