Boks can emulate the Class of '09

Though they are loath to say so publicly the Springboks will be out to complete a hat-trick of wins over the All Blacks when the teams clash in the Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Having beaten the All Blacks in Gold Coast last year and in Mbombela last weekend they are now on the cusp of emulating the Springbok team that beat the All Blacks in three straight matches in 2009.

That team under the hand of Peter de Villiers achieved wins in Bloemfontein, Durban and Hamilton and on only two other occasions have the Boks achieved that feat.

The Springboks that will run out at Ellis Park have a few things in common with the Class of '09, not least their ability to kick, chase and leap with authority under the descending ball.

They found the All Blacks' Achilles Heel and mercilessly probed that perceived weakness in 2009. Driven to the drawing board the All Blacks arrived at the conclusion that shortfall should be addressed through a two-pronged approach. They upskilled the back three and incorporated players, most notably Ben Smith who was fit-for-purpose.

The short turnaround time for the current team precludes such decisive intervention and the shortcomings of last week when they were humbled 26-10 are likely to persist.

Part of the fallout from the first Test was the suspension of Kurt-Lee Arendse after his reckless aerial challenge on Beauden Barrett. The All Blacks have seized upon that indiscretion and have already planted the seed, that aerial assaults hold physical peril.

“We’ve asked for our players in the air to get some protection from people knocking and colliding into them with one arm in the air and we’ve had good clarification about that, so we’re very clear,” said All Blacks coach Ian Foster.

No doubt that very public call would have directly found the ears of referee Luke Pearce during the All Blacks' prematch briefing with the match officials.

The Springboks will of course again seek to take the tourists' game to those uncomfortable places, whether in the air or while smelling the turf. As much as they bossed the highly magnified airways last week, the Boks also got traction in the dimly lit area of the scrum in Mbombela.

In this facet there are no clear and obvious escape routes for the visitors who resorted to personnel changes at loose and tight head for this clash.

The Boks will also look to gain more traction than a week ago in the maul but the absence of hooker Bongi Mbonambi is a significant blow. They opted to elevate Joseph Dweba straight into the starting team, with last week's hero Malcolm Marx starting from the bench.

It has invited some criticism but this is perhaps the best platform for Dweba, with the benefit of a marauding Bok scrum and maul, to prove that he too belongs.

Teams

Springboks — Damian Willemse; Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Handré Pollard, Jaden Hendrikse; Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain); Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth; Frans Malherbe, Joseph Dweba, Ox Nche. Substitutes: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Jasper Wiese, Kwagga Smith; Herschel Jantjies, Willie le Roux.

All Blacks — Jordie Barrett; Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, David Havili, Caleb Clarke; Richie Mo’unga, Aaron Smith; Ardie Savea, Sam Cane (captain), Shannon Frizell; Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock; Tyrel Lomax, Samson Taukei’aho, Ethan de Groot. Substitutes: Codie Taylor, George Bower, Fletcher Newell, Tupou Vaa’i, Akira Ioane; Finlay Christie, Beauden Barrett, Quinn Tupaea.

Referee: Luke Pearce (England). Assistant referee: Angus Gardner (Australia), Christophe Ridley (England). TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

Kickoff: 5.05pm

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